
Class 
Book. 



V4 tL 



Copyright ]»1^_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 




NATIONAI. FLAG OP' MEXICO 



Frontispiece 



I^he Hiorg of the |Jalions 



THE 



Story of Mexico 



SUSAN HALE 




NEW YORK 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

LONDON : T. FISHER UNWIN 
1889 



Copyright 

By G. P, Putnam's Sons 

1888 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 

By T. Fisher Unwin 



^.Lfqi?^ 



Press of 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York 



/ 






The story of the nations 



I2MO, ILLUSTRATED. PER VOL., $1.50 



THE EARLIER VOLUMES ARK 



' THE STORY OF GREECE. By Prof. Jas. A. Harrison 
I THE STORY OF ROME. By Arthur Gilman 
5 THE STORY OF THE JEWS. By Prof. Jas. K. Hosmer 
THE STORY OF CHALDEA. By Z. A. Ragozin 
THE STORY OF GERMANY. By S. Baring-Gould 
, THE STORY OF NORWAY. By Prof. H. H. Bovesen 
•■ THE STORY OF SPAIN. By E. E. and Susan Hale 
,., THE STORY OF HUNGARY. By Prof. A. Vamb^rv 
f THE STORY OF CARTHAGE. Dy Prof. Alfred J. Church 
'. THE STORY OF THE SARACENS. By Arthur Oilman 

THE STORY OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN. By Stanley Lane-Pooib 
THE STORY OF THE NORMANS. By Sarah O. Jewett 
THE STORY OF PERSIA. By S. G. W. Benjamin 
THE STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT. By Geo. Rawlinson 
THE STORY OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. By Prof.J.P.MAHAFFV 
THE STORY OF ASSYRIA. By Z. A. Ragozin 
THE STORY OF IRELAND. By Hon. Emily Lawless 
THE STORY OF THE GOTHS. By Henry Bradley 
THE STORY OF TURKEY. By Stanley Lane-Poole 
THE STORY OF MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. By Z. A. 
Ragozin 

THE STORY OF MEDIEVAL FRANCE. By Gustave Masson 

3 THE STORY OF MEXICO. By Susan Hale 

xC'THE STORY OF HOLLAND. By James E. Thorold Rogers 

For prospectus of the series see end of this volume 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON 



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CONTENTS. 



I. 

PAGE 

The Subject ....... i-ii 

View from a steamer, i — Seen by Fernando Cortes, 2 ; his 
ambition, 3 — Inhospitable coast, 3 — Vera Cruz, 4 — Depart- 
ure, 4 — Climate we leave, 5 — Climate we are seeking, 5 — 
Three climates of Mexico, 6 — Anahuac, 6 ; Tierra templada, 
7 — Scenery of the plateau, 7 — Its early inhabitants, 8 — De- 
stroyed by Cortes, 8 — Traditions of Anahuac, 9 — Teocallis 
changed to cathedrals, 9 — The Conquistadores, 10 — Span- 
ish rulers, 10 — Two emperors, 10 — Mexico a republic, ir ; 
its past and future, 11. 

11^ 

Shadowy Tribes 12-23 

Meaning of Anahuac, 12 — Tula, formerly ToUan, 13 — The 
Toltecs, 13 — Cholula : its legends, 14, 15, 16, 17, iS, 19, 
20 — Mound builders, 21 — Legends of the Nahuas, 21 — 
Huehue-Tlapallan, 22 — Atlantis, 22 — Noah of the Mexi- 
can tribes, 22 — Universal fable of the deluge, 23. 

III. 

Traditions of the Toltecs . . . 24-37 
Their wanderings, 24 ; ruins of their capital, 26 ; their re- 
sources, 26 ; language, 27 ; early faith, 27 — Cuernavaca, 28 
— Toluca, 28 — Power of their ruler, 29 — Quetzalcoatl, 
The Shining Snake, 29 ; legends of his career, 30 ; 
possible facts, 32 ; mystery of his departure, 32 ; image in the 
museum, 33 ; his attributes, 33 — Evil days of the Toltecs, 
34 — The Agave Americana, 34 ; its properties, 35 — Maguey, 
35 — Xochitl, 36 ; her beverage, 36 — Deterioration of the 
Toltecs, 37 ; dates of their wanderings, 37. 



iv THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

IV. 

PAGE 

Chichimecs ....... 38-44 

A new dynasty, 38 — The Chichimecs, 39 ; occupations and 
customs, 39 — The mark of a warrior, 39 — The Serpent of 
the Clouds, 40 — The invasion of Xolotl, 40 — Fall of Tol- 
lan, 41 — Territory of Xolotl, 41 — New waves of emigration, 
42 — Wise rulers, 42 — Texcuco, 42 — The Aztecs, 43 — War 
with Atzcapotzalco, 44 — Kingdom of Texcuco, 44. 

V. 

Nezahualcoyotl ...... 45-52 

The young prince, 45 ; in captivity, 45 ; a faithful friend, 
46 — Tlaxcaza, 46 — The plateau to-day, 46 — The Malinche, 
46 — The Land of Bread, 47 — A wise tutor, 47 — Maxtla, 
48 — The homage of Nezahualcoyotl, 48 — Maxtla's plot, 48 
— Open enmity, 49 — Nezahualcoyotl's escape, 49 ; his 
hiding, 50 — Tyranny of Maxtla, 50 — The true prince 
triumphant, 51 — Maxtla defeated and killed, 51 — The 
kingdom of Texcuco Acolhuacan, 52. 

VI. 
Texcuco . . . . . 53-6i 

The Golden Age, 53 — The government, 53 — Council of 
Music, 53 — Texcucan literature, 54 — Lost treasures, 54 — 
A royal poet, 55 — The Laughing Hill, 56 — Artificial lakes, 
56 — Ruins of Tezcotzinco, 56 — Baths of Montezuma, 57 — 
A blot on Nezahualcoyotl's fame, 57 ; a Mexican Haroun 
al Raschid, 58 ; his religion, 59 — From anarchy to civiliza- 
tion, 59 — Nezahualpilli, 59 — Decline of Texcuco, 60 — A 
Texcucan historian, 60 — Legend or fact? 61. 

VII. 
MiCHOACAN ....... 62-69 

The Land of Fish, 62 — Lonely lakes, 62 — Patzcuaro, 63 — 
The Place of Delights, 64— The first settlers, 64— Ire 
Titatacame, 65 — A dusky princess, 65 — Tixiacuri, the first 
king of Michoacan, 66 — The kingdom divided, 66 — Tzint- 
zuntzan, 67 — The glorious reign of Zovanga, 67 — A city of 
birds, 67 — Fruitless excavations, 68 — The Tarascans, 68. 



CONTENTS. V 

VIII. 

PAGE 

Mayas 70-82 

The first wave of migration, 70 — Traces of Mayas in 
Yucatan, 70 — A great empire, 71 — Nachan, the town of ser- 
pents, 72 ; its ruins discovered, 72 — Palace at Palenque, 72 — 
Lofty chambers and strange bas-reliefs, 73 — The Temple of 
the Cross, 74 — An emblem of Christian faith, 75 — Meaning 
of the tablets, 75— ^Chichen-Itza, 76 — A religious centre, 77 
— Paintings and bas-reliefs, 78 — Chaak Mool, the tiger- 
chief, 78 — The beautiful Kinich, 78 — Tomb of Chaak 
Mool, 78 — Paved roads of Yucatan, 79— Votan and Zamna, 
80 — Mayan legends, 80 — Weapons and armor, 81 — War 
with the Toltecs, 82. 

IX. 

Aztecs 83-95 

Best known of the Anahuac tribes, 83 — Aztlan, 83 — The 
migration, 84 — Six centuries of wanderings, 84 — The name 
Mexican, 84, — Their adopted home, 84 — Chapultepec, 86 — 
Driven to the islands, 87 — A wretched life, 87 — Valor of 
the slaves, 87 — An abiding city, 87 — Tenochtitlan, or 
Mexico, 88 — Advances in civilization, 88 — Results of mod- 
ern research, 89 — A king chosen, go — Early years of the 
kingdom, 91 — The Princess of Cloth, 92 — Canoas, 92 — 
Chimalpopoca, 94 — The usurpation, 94 — Maxtla, 95. 

X. 

Mexicans 96-110 

Itzcoatl, 96 — Alliance with Texcuco, 96 — War with Max- 
tla, 96 — Victory of the allies, 97 — Fall of the Tepanec 
monarchy, 97 — " The Valley Confederates," 98 — Reign of 
Motecuhzoma, 98 — Height of the Mexican power, 98 — 
Conquest of the Chalcas, 99 — Inundation and famine, gg — 
Raid upon neighboring provinces, 100 — Laws of Motecuh- 
zoma, 100 ; his successor, loi — Tizoc, loi — The Drinking- 
cup of the Eagle, loi — Human sacrifice, 102 — Temple 
built by Tizoc, 105 — Dikes, 105 — A despot, 106 — Extent of 
the kingdom, 106 — Religious fanaticism, 108 — Doubtful 
records, log. 



vi THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

XL 

PAGE 

Aztec Character 111-123 

Unreliable testimony, iii — Hieroglyphics, in — Paintings, 
112 — " Wanderings of the Aztecs," 112 — Religion, 114 — A 
future life, 114 — Funeral customs, 114 — Domestic life, 115 
— Laws, 115 — Music, 115 — The Aztec calendar, 115 — Divi- 
sions of time, 116 — Names of days, etc., 117 — Opinions of 
antiquarians, 117 — The cycle, 118 — Unlucky days, 118 — 
Agriculture, 119 — Irrigation, iig — A gentle race, 120 — The 
Priestesses, 121 — Coatlicue, the goddess of the earth, 122 
— Source of Aztec greatness, 122 — A fatal policy, 123. 

XIL 

The Last of the Montezumas . . 124-134 
Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, 124 ; his character, 124 — A 
coronation festival, 125 — Royal robes, 125 — The life of 
an Aztec king, 126 ; his capital, 126 — Diaz's description, 127 
— A life of pleasure, 12S — State correspondence, 128 — Cha- 
pultepec, 129 — Montezuma's cypress, 129 — Clouds on the 
horizon, 130 — Sinister predictions, 130 — The coming of the 
white men, 131 — An unhappy monarch, 131 — Landing of 
the strangers, 132 — Velasquez de Leon, 132 ; his expedi- 
tion to Yucatan, 133 — Grijalva visits Mexico, 133 — Monte- 
zuma's embassy, 133. 

XIII. 
Cortes 135-144 

Birth, 135 ; enters the army, 135 ; visits Cuba, 135 — An 
attractive portrait, 135 — Defects of character, 136 — Velas- 
quez and Grijalva's expedition, 136 — A love story, 137 — 
Cortes receives a commission, 137 ; his companions, 137 — 
Jealousy of Velasquez, 137 — The squadron, 138 — Jerome 
d' Aguilar, 138 — First conflict with the Aztecs, 139 — Palm 
Sunday, 139 — A happy people, 140 — Rumors of danger, 
140— Presents to the strangers, 141 — Cortes as Quetzalcoatl, 
141 — Easter, 141 — A perplexed council, 142 — Mistaken 
policy, 142 — Vera Cruz, 142 — Cortes visits Cempoallan, 
143 — Tlaxcalla, 143 — The ships destroyed, 144. 



CONTENTS. yjj 

XIV. 



Malintzi ... ^"^""^ 

Her birthplace, 145-The little duchess"is made a skv^e '^° 
145— Life m Tabasco, 146— Arrival of Cortes, 146— Treaty 
of alliance, 146-The heiress-slave becomes a Christian, 146 
-Marina or Malinche, 146-A new interpreter, i47_A 
beautiful picture, 147-Splendid gifts, 148-Malintzi's 
beauty, 149 ; her devotion to Cortes, 149 ; its result, 149. 

XV. 
Tlaxcalla 

An isolated province, 151-Exaggerated reports, i^i^'^^ 
Efforts for the friendship of the Tlaxcallans, 152-A trap 
for the Spaniards, 152-A battle, 152-Defeat of the Tlax- 
callans, 153-Peace concluded, 153-Christianity intro- 
duced 153-Cholula, 154-Slaughter of the Cholultecas 
154-Alliance with Ixtlilxochitl, 154-Cacamatzin impris- 
oned, 155-Cortes reaches Mexico, 156-Cortes and Monte- ' 
zuma, 157— A lesson and a vow, 157. 

XVI. 
La Noche Triste . . o , 

Overtures of friendship, 158-Bold measures, i59_Monte ' ^ 
zuma in the power of the Spaniards, isg-A rival in the 
r '59-Alvarado. 160-The feast of Huitzilopochtli 
^7 .. Spaniards in danger, 160-Death of Montezuma 
i6i-Mexican traditions, 162-Cort^s abandons the city 
163-A desperate struggle, it^-La Noche Triste, 164- 
rhe .scene of the battle, i6g ; the losses, 165. 

XVII. 
Conquest . 

A ■ . , , " ■ ■ ■ • • 166-170 

An interval of peace, 166-The new emperor, 166-A 
legacy of the Spaniards, 167-Cortes in extremis, 167-The 
Aztecarmy, 168-Battle at Otumba, lyo-The Spaniards 
victorious, 170-Preparations for defence, 171-The Span 
lards in Tlaxcalla, 171-Ixtlilxochitl, 171-Cortes at 
iexcuco, 172— A new army and a new fleet, 172— The 
campaign against Mexico, 173-Suffering in the city, 174- 



VUl THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

PAGE 

Surrender, 174 — The city destroyed, 175 — Corte's at 
Coyoacan, 175 — Search for treasures, 175 — The kings 
tortured, 175 — Military rule, 176 — Subjugation of Michoa- 
can, 176 — Later conquests, 177 — Death of the Aztec kings, 
178 — Later life of Cortes, 178 ; return to Spain, 178 ; death, 
178 ; burial in Mexico, 179. 

XVIII. 

DoNa Marina 180-183 

Her position in the camp, 180 — After the victory, 180 — 
Life at Coyoacan, 180 — Arrival of Dona Catalina, 181 ; 
her death, 182 — Insurrection in Honduras, 182 — Marriage 
of Marina, 183 ; her later life and her death, 183 — Cortes 
visits Spain, 183 — A second marriage, 183. 

XIX. 
Indians ....... 184-190 

The conquest complete, 184 — The name Indian, 184 — 
Origin of the Nahuatl tribes, 1S5 — Distinguished from the 
North American Indian, 186 — Military government, 188 — 
The Ayuntamiento , 188 — The Audiencia, 188 — Nuiio de 
Guzman, 189 ; his cruelty to the natives, 189 — Guadalajara 
founded, 189 — A second Atidiencia, 189 — A viceroy ap- 
pointed, 190 — Extent of New Spain, 190. 

XX. 

The First of the Viceroys . . . 191-202 

Antonio de Mendoza, igi ; his family and character, 191 — 
Reforms instituted, 191 — Industries encouraged, 192 — The 
Franciscans, 192 — Fray Pedro, 192 — Foundation of schools 
and colleges, 193 — Guadalajara and Valladolid, 193 — 
Michoacan and its people, 194 — The founding of a city, 
195 — Spanish families in Mexico, 196 — Jews and Moors 
banished, 196 — Vasco de Quiroga, 197 ; his life in Tarasco, 
197 ; his church at Tzintzuntzan, 198 — A wonderful picture, 
198 — The cathedral at Morelia, 199 — Cortes goes to Spain, 
200 — Popularity of the viceroy, 200 — First Mexican book, 
202 — Departure of Mendoza, 202. 



CONTENTS. ix 

XXI. 



PAGE 



Fray Martin de Valencia . . . 203-213 

Don Luis de Velasco, second viceroy, 203 — New institutions 
and industries, 203— Puebla de los Angeles, 204 ; the 
tradition of its founding, 204 ; the situation, 206— The early 
ecclesiastics, 207 — The worship of the Virgin, 207— The 
"twelve apostles of Mexico," 208 — Fray Martin of 
Valencia, 208 ; his life in Amecameca, 209 ; his death, 210 
— Relics of Fray Martin, 21 r — An object of reverence, 212 — 
Death of Velasco, 212 — A well-regulated government, 213. 

XXII. 
Other Viceroys . . . . . 214-223 

Events in Spain, 214— Philip II., 214— The character of the 
viceroys, 215— The Inquisition, 216— The Quemadero, 216— 
Death of Philip, 217— Inundations, 217— Martinez and his 
canal, 218— Successors of Philip, 219— Wars of succession, 
220— Revillagigedo, 220 ; anecdotes of his administration, 
221. 

XXIII. 
Humboldt 224-2-?2 

A distinguished visitor, 224 ; he arrives in Mexico, 225 — Re- 
marks on the carving, 225 — Academy of fine arts, 226 ; its 
later history, 227— The cathedral. 227— Humboldt at 
Chapultepec, 228 ; The market, 228— Teotihuacan, 229— 
Mexican mines, 229— Valenciana, 229 — At Patzcuaro, 230 
— The birth of a volcano, 231. 

XXIV. 
Revolutions 2 -'3-2 37 

Charles III. of Spain, 233 ; his successor, 233— Branciforte 
and the statue of Charles IV., 234— Napoleon invades 
Spain, 235 — A change of government, 22s— Juntas, 235 — 
The Bourbons restored, 235— Iturrigaray and his adminis- 
tration, 236— Revolt in the air, 237— The policy of Spain, 
237 — Venegas, 237. 



X' THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

XXV. 

PAGE 

Hidalgo 238-249 

Birth and education, 238— Colegio de San Nicholas, 238— 
He takes orders, 238 ; life at Dolores, 240 ; bold schemes, 
240 — Ignacio Allende, 241 ; An important step, 241 — The 
Grito de Dolores, 242 — A new army, 242 — Attack on 
Guanajuato, 243 — A brave boy, 243 — The new viceroy, 
243 — Hidalgo excommunicated, 244 — Valladolid taken, 
245 — Monte de la Cmces, 245 — The insurgents defeated at 
Aculco, 246 — Hidalgo declared Generalissimo, 246 — Battle 
of Calderon, 247 — Capture and death of the chiefs, 24S — 
End of the struggle for independence, 248. 

XXVI. 

MORELOS 250-257 

Birth and family, 250— Morelia, 251 — Muleteer and student, 
251 — Morelos joins Hidalgo, 251 — Siege of Cuautla, 252 — 
Acapulco, 252 — First Mexican Congress, 252 — Declaration 
of independence, 253 — Attack on Valladolid, 253 — Mis- 
haps, 254 — Morelos a prisoner, 254 — Death of Morelos, 
255 ; his character and aims, 255 ; his object achieved, 256. 

xxvn. 
Yturbide 258-271 

The close of Calleja's administration, 258 — The insurgents 
dispersed, 258 — Apodaca and Guerrero, 259 — Affairs in 
Spain, 259 — Agustin de Yturbide, 260 ; early services, 
260; meets Guerrero, 261 — "Plan of Iguala," 261 — The 
" three guaranties," 261 — Advance of the insurgents, 262 — 
The viceroy deposed, 262 — A successful campaign, 263 — 
O'Donoju, 263 — Treaty of Cordova, 264— Yturbide enters 
the capital, 264 — The Regency, 264 — The Mexican Empire 
founded, 265 — Work of the new government, 265 — Second 
Mexican Congress, 265 — Yturbide proclaimed Emperor, 
266 — Signs of dissatisfaction, 267— Santa Anna, 267 — The 
Casa-Mata, 268 — Yturbide banished, 268 ; his return to 
Mexico, 270 ; his execution, 270 ; character of Yturbide, 
271. 



CONTENTS. xi 

XXVIII. 

PAGE 

Santa Anna . . . . . , 272-280 

A confused story, 272 — Santa Anna, 273 ; his connection 
with Yturbide, 273 — The Constitution, 273 — " Guada- 
lupe " Victoria, 273 — Expulsion of the Spanish, 274 — A 
presidential election, 274 — Mutiny in the capital, 275 — 
Colonization of Texas, 276 — Pedraza, 276 — A Spanish in- 
vasion, 277 — Santa Anna made Commander-in-Chief, 277 
— Eustamente, 278 — Guerrero betrayed and shot, 278 — 
Santa Anna becomes President, 278 — Farias, 279 — Insur- 
rection in Texas, 279. 

XXIX. 

Still Santa Anna 281-289 

Louis Philippe, 281 — Reclamacion de los pasteles, 281 — The 
French repelled, 281 — Santa Anna's home, 282 — Eusta- 
mente recalled, 282 — Trouble again, 283 — Mejia, 283 — A 
revolution described, 284 — Eustamente resigns, 288 — Santa 
Anna triumphant, 288. 

XXX. 

Society . . . . . . . 290-300 

Madame Calderon's journal, 290 — An ambassador from 
Spain, 290 — State of society, 291 — The Pase'o, 291 — The 
Viga, 292 — Women in Mexico, 292 — Good-Friday in 
Mexico, 294 — Robbers, 297 — Guardias Rurales, 298 — A 
monarchy proposed, 299. 

XXXI. 
Rumors of War ..... 301-310 

Results of the Spanish rule, 301 — Playing at independence, 
301 — The appeal to arms, •302 — The country exhausted, 302 
— Misfortunes, 304 — The United States, 304 — Spread of its 
territory, 304 — Colonization of Texas, 305 — Moses Austin, 
304 — Revolt against Mexico, 305 — Houston and Santa 
Anna, 305 — Texas, independent, 305 — Annexed to the 
United States, 306 — Herrera, Farias, and Paredes, 307 — 
The Mexican army, 308. 



Xll THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

XXXII. 

PAGE 

War Begun 311-322 

The beginning of hostilities, 311 — Palo Alto and Resaca de 
la Palma, 311 — The war carried into Mexico, 312 — Diffi- 
culty of negotiation, 312 — " Indemnity for the past," 313 — 
California, 313 — Policy of the United States, 313 — Monte- 
rey taken, 314 — Fremont enters the capital, 316 — Taylor's 
campaign, 316 — Siege of Monterey, 318 — Ampudia's proc- 
lamation, 319 — Paredes and his " Plan," 319 — Santa Anna 
again, 320 — Fall of Paredes, 321 — Santa Anna at the capi- 
tal, 321 — A new army, 321. 

XXXIII. 

PuEBLA Lost 323-332 

Scott before Vera Cruz, 323 — Buena Vista, 323 — Raising 
money, 323 — The religious orders and their influence, 324 — 
Wealth of the Church, 326 — Ecclesiastical property seized, 
327 — Bombardment of Vera Cruz, 328 — The city surrenders, 
328 — Cerro Gordo, 330 — Santa Anna at Puebla, 330 — Pue- 
bla occupied by the Americans, 331 — Guadalupe and its 
surroundings, 331 — Santa Anna as Dictator, 332 — Patriot- 
ism aroused, 332. 

XXXIV. 
Chapultepec Taken .... 2>2>3~ZA^ 

The approach to the capital, 333 — Churubusco, 333 — Docile 
Indians, 333 — Another victory for the Americans, 334 — 
Molino de Rey, 334 — Chapultepec taken, 336 — Occupation 
of the capital, 336 — Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 338 — 
Discovery of gold, 338 — Effects of the war, 339 — Attempts 
to capture Santa Anna, 340 — Santa Anna retires to Jamaica, 
341 — Grant in the Mexican war, 341. 

XXXV. 

Benito Juarez 342-347 

Peace restored, 342 — Herrera and his administration, 342 — 
Santa Anna again Dictator, 344 — An epoch of reform, 344 
— Clerigos and liberates, 344 — Benito Juarez, 344 ; his early 
life, 345 ; governor and exile, 345 ; restored to office, 346 — 
A new Constitution, 346 — Juarez becomes President, 346 — 
Foreign intervention, 347. 



CONTENTS. Xlli 

XXXVI. 

PAGE 

French Intervention .... 348-356 

A foreign squadron, 348 — The pretext and the cause, 348 — 
Spain and England withdraw, 349 — The policy of Napoleon 
III., 349 — A proposed empire, 349 — Maximilian, 350; 
dreams of " the right divine," 352 — The French troops 
advance on the capital, 353 — Divisions in Mexico 353 — 
The Cinco de Mayo, 354 — A bold attack, 355 — Defence of 
Puebla, 356. 

XXXVII. 
The Empire under Protection . . 357-364 

The sovereigns arrive, 357 — The imperialist party, 357 — 
Reception of Maximilian, 358 — Relics of royalty, 359 — 
Military affairs, 360 — The new government, 362 — Chapul- 
tepec restored, 363 — Society at the capital, 363 — Apparent 
prosperity, 364. 

XXXVIII. 

The Unprotected Empire . . . 365-372 

Action of the United States, 365 — Responsibility for the 
intervention, 366 — The final word of Napoleon, 367 — Car- 
lotta goes to Europe, 368 — Her interview with Napoleon, 
369 — Maximilian leaves the capital, 370 — At Orizaba, 371 — 
Father Fischer, 371 — The Emperor's manifesto, 372. 

XXXIX. 
Maximilian 373-382 

The French army withdrawn, 373 — Advance of Juarez, 374 
— The Emperor and his attendants, 374 — Investment of 
Queretaro, 375 — Marquez and Diaz, 375 — Personal appear- 
ance of the Emperor, 376 — The treachery of Lopez, 377 — 
Maximilian a prisoner, 378 ; his death, 380. 

XL. 
End of the Episode .... 383-385 

General Vidaurri, 383 — The escape of Marquez, 384 — 
General Diaz, 384 — Puebla, 385 — Vigor of the liberal gov- 
ernment, 385. 



XIV THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

XLI. 

PAGB 

The Last of Santa Anna ■ . . 386-391 

Juarez enters the capital, 386 — Peace established, 387 — 
Santa Anna in retirement, 387 ; his exile and death, 3S8 — 
Character of Juarez, 3S9 — Civil war again, 390 — Death of 
Juarez, 390 — Lerdo becomes President, 391. 

XLII. 
PoRFiRio Diaz ...... 392-401 

A new "Plan," 392 — Birthplace of Diaz, 392 — Scenery of 
Oaxaca, 393 — The Zapotecas, 393 — Ruins of Mitla, 394 — 
Early life of Diaz, 394 ; his military achievements, 395 — 
An escape from hostile troops, 396 — Triumph of the oppo- 
sition, 396 — Diaz proclaimed President, 397 — Presidency 
of Gonsalez, 398 — Policy of Diaz, 399 — Chapultepec at the 
present day, 399 — Hope for the Indian, 400 — Prospects of 
development, 401. 

XLIII. 

Physical Advantages .... 402-411 

Climate and vegetation, 402 — Mexican flora, 403 — The 
market-place, 404 — A family group, 404 — Native pottery, 
405 — The cargador, 405 — Wearing apparel, 406 — Serape 
and rebozo, 406, 407 — The cotton industry, 408 — The 
source of Mexican wealth, 409. 

XLIV. 
Future ....... 412-419 

Influence of the Catholic Fathers, 412 — Extinction of 
monasteries, 412 — The parish priest, 413 — The Mozarabic 
liturgy, 413 — A missionary field, 414 — The policy of the 
government, 414 — Schools, 415 — Literature in modern 
Mexico, 416 — The Mexican-Spaniard, 417 — Railways, 418 — 
Brighter days to come, 419. 

Index ........ 421 



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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Mexican Flag ..... Frontispiece. 
Valley of Tula . . _ . . . . -15 

Column from Tula 24 

Ruins found at Tula ..... 25 

Quetzalcoatl . . . . . . -31 

Portico at Kaboh 43 

Vase in the National Museum, Washington . 6^, 

CaSA DEL GOBERNADOR, UXMAL . . . • 7^ 

Statue from Palenque ..... 73 

Tablet of Cross at Palenque . . , . 74 

Mayan Bas-Relief '77 

Statue of Chaak Mool ..... 79 

Zamna ......... 81 

Organ Cactus 85 

Idol in Terra-Cotta 89 

Canal outside the City of Mexico ... 93 

Stone of Tizoc 103 

Sculpture Representing Human Sacrifice . 107 
Court of the Museum at Mexico . . .113 
Vase. Museum at Mexico . . . . .120 

Pyramid at Teotihuacan ..... 169 

Early Pottery ....... 187 

Cathedral at Morelia . . . ... 201 

Puebla de Los Angeles ..... 205 

Temple of Xochicalco 225 

Cactus Hedge ....... 239 



XVI 



THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 



Panorama of Puebla . 

Indian Hut in the Tierra Caliente 

Cathedral, City of Mexico 

The Viga 

Valley of Mexico 

Monterey, Mexico 

General Taylor 

General Scott . 

Siege of Vera Cruz 

Battle of Molino del Rey 

Storming of Chapultepec 

Benito Juarez 

Archduke Maximilian* 

San Luis Potosi . 

Chapultepec in the Time of Maximilian 

Head-quarters of Juarez at San Luis de Potosi 

The Convent of Capuchinas 

Zapotec Ornament 

Image of a Zapotec Chief . 

President Porfirio Diaz 

Aqueduct in the City of Mexico 

* From " The Fall of Maximilian's Empire." 
the author, Seaton Schroeder, Lieut. U. S. N. 



PAGE 

269 
283 
289 
293 

315 
317 
325 
329 

335 
337 
343 
351 
359 
361 

379 
381 
Z92> 
394 
397 
410 

By permission of 



For a number of these illustrations the publishers are indebted to 
the courtesy of Messrs. Hochette & Co., publishers of " Le Voyage 
au Mexique," by Jules Leclercq. 





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THE STORY OF MEXICO, 



I. 

THE SUBJECT. 



The steamer, stops, and we are lying off Vera 
Cruz, in the Gulf of Mexico. Half a mile off, the 
long, low shore stretches north and south, with the 
white town upon it, flat roofs making level lines on 
the houses glaring in the morning sunlight, domes 
and church towers rising above the rest ; glimpses of 
bright green tree-tops are to be seen, but outside the 
city all is barren and waste. The plain behind rolls 
up, however, and the background is the peak of 
snow-capped Orizaba, silent, lofty, 17,356 feet above 
our level. 

This is what we see to-day, leaning over the bul- 
wark of our large luxurious steamer which has 
brought us, easily, from Havana in a few days, over 
the smooth, green waters of the Gulf. Our only 
anxiety has been the possible chance of a " Norther," 
which may break loose at any time in that region, 
sweeping over the waters with fury and driving the 
stoutest vessels away from the coast they would ap- 

i 



2 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

proach. Our only exertion has been to keep cool 
upon the pleasant deck, and to take enough exercise 
to be able to enjoy the frequent food provided by 
the admirable chef oi the steamer. 

The scenery is the same that Fernando Cort6s 
looked upon, some three hundred years ago, when 
he, too, cast anchor about half a mile from the coast, 
and scanned the shore with an anxious eye, to find a 
suitable landing. Orizaba rose before him, as now we 
see it, stately, majestic, cold and forbidding, under its 
mantle of snow. 

We must envy the adventurer, in spite of our ad- 
vantages in the way of ease and comfort. He stood 
upon the cramped deck of his little vessel, sur- 
rounded by a handful of men, with a limited amount 
of provisions, and great uncertainty about the next 
supply. No town stretched out its sheltering walls 
before him ; there was scarcely harborage for his 
ships. Yet he had the advantage of absolute novelty 
in his undertaking from the moment he himself, with 
his little band, led the way up the steep slope to 
Anahuac. 

Every true traveller has some of the instincts of 
the explorer in him, and these instincts must make us 
envy the prospect which lay before Cortes as he ap- 
proached in the Bay of Vera Cruz the real beginning 
of his enterprise. There was the shore of the new 
country, where he might plant his "rich city of the 
true cross." There was the cold mountain which 
might contain in its depths the treasure he was seek- 
ing, and beyond it was the rumored Empire he 
longed to conquer. At that moment, no fear, no 



THE SUBJECT. 3 

discouragement, held back the eager steps with which 
he sprang into his boat, and beckoned his compan- 
ions to follow him. 

Cortes fulfilled his ambition, achieved his task, 
with what difificulties, through what straits and fail- 
ures, we shall have later to see. He scaled the sides 
of Orizaba, reached the lofty plateau, and seized the 
ancient citadel of the Montezumas. Civilization has 
trodden smooth the rough path he first opened, and 
railroads now make it easy to climb the pass so ar- 
duous for him. If our journey lacks the element of 
constant discovery which belonged to his, we have 
gained that of wonder and amazement at the dififi- 
culties he surmounted. Moreover, he came in igno- 
rance of what he was to find, with a blind desire for 
conquest, investing the region he approached with 
imaginary attractions. We know beforehand, as we 
begin to explore the country, that its legends and 
romances are as fascinating as its mines are deep ; 
that its story is as picturesque as the lofty ranges 
and deep rolling valleys which make the charm of its 
scenery. 

An inhospitable coast borders the treacherous, 
though beautiful, Gulf of Mexico. Its waters look 
smiling and placid, but at any season the furious 
" Norther " may break loose, sweeping with fearful 
suddenness over its surface, lashing its lately smiling 
waves into fury, threatening every vessel with de- 
struction. Low sand-bars offer little shelter from the 
blast. Ships must stand off the coast until the 
tempest shall be past. 

The country offers nothing better to its landed 



4 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

guests. Vomito lurks in the streets of Vera Cruz to 
seize upon strangers and hurry them off to a wretched 
grave. All the pests of a tropical region infest the 
low lands running back from the sea. Splendid 
vegetation hides unpleasant animals, and snakes are 
lurking among the beautiful blue morning-glories 
that festoon the tangled forests. Let us hasten 
away from these dangers, and climb the slope that 
leads to a purer air. 

We have escaped the terrors of the custom-house 
at Vera Cruz, from which, by the way, Cortes was 
exempt, and after a doubtful night in the hotel, 
serenaded by swarms of Vera Cruz mosquitoes, at 
early dawn we creep stealthily from our chambers, 
not to disturb the few misguided guests who mean 
to stay a little longer, and follow the dusky carga- 
dores, bearing our baggage on their backs, down into 
the silent street. In Mexico there is no effort on 
the part of an hotel proprietor to speed the parting 
guest. He signs the bill overnight and betakes 
himself to repose, undisturbed by the exodus in 
early morning. The cargadores who have agreed to 
attend to the luggage rouse their sleeping prey and 
lead them through a wide, straight street to the 
railroad station. There is no sign of breakfast at 
the hotel. Nobody is stirring but one sleepy inn- 
keeper. Hard by the station, as in every Mexican 
town, is a cafe, where excellent hot coffee is fur- 
nished, with plenty of boiled milk and good bread 
in many and various forms. Here we may sit and 
refresh ourselves with cup after cup, if we like, until 
the short, sharp whistle of the steam-engine warns 



THE SUBJECT. $ 

US to take the train. Heavy baggage was, or should 
have been, weighed and registered overnight. 

It is but six o'clock as we move out of the station. 
A big sun is slowly rising over the dry, hot chappar- 
ral outside the city. Although it is early April, all 
is parched like midsummer. Soon, however, we 
begin to climb, and, as we ascend, pass through 
forests of wonderful growth. Sugar-cane and coffee 
plantations now appear ; and the trees are hung with 
orchids, tangled with vines bright with blossoms, 
many of them fruit-trees now in flower, one mass of 
white or pink. The road crosses water-falls, winds 
round ravines, under mountains, through tunnels, 
climbing ever higher and higher, until Cdrdoba is 
reached at an elevation of over 2,000 feet. This 
town is surrounded and invaded by coffee plan- 
tations and orange groves. At the station baskets 
of delicious fruits are offered us — oranges, bana- 
nas, grenaditas, mangoes. Here we bid farewell to 
the tropics, and forget the snakes and the fear of 
vomito. 

The climate we are seeking is not a tropical one. 
Whoever associates Mexico with the characteristics 
of heat, malaria, venomous reptiles, has received a 
wrong impression of it. Such places, with their 
drawbacks, exist within the geographical limits of 
the country, but it is wholly unnecessary to seek 
them ; for the towns of historical and picturesque 
interest are above the reach of tropical dangers, for 
the most part, while there are seasons of the year 
when even the warmer portions can be visited with 
safety and delight. At Orizaba the climate is tem- 



6 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

perate, fresh, and cool, beginning to have the ele- 
ments of mountain altitudes. It is well to stop 
here for a day or two to become accustomed to the 
rarer air. It is a summer place of recreation for the 
inhabitants of Vera Cruz, while in winter it is a 
favorite excursion from the places higher up on the 
plateau. 

As we are travelling only in imagination, we may 
safely, without pause, press upward to the great 
plateau where most of the scene is laid of our story. 
For Mexico, with the exception of the narrow border 
of sea-coast we have just crossed, is a lofty table- 
land between two oceans, a mountain ridge continued 
up from the Andes in South America, contracted at 
the Isthmus of Panama to a narrow chain of granite, 
to grow broad in Mexico as it stretches to the north- 
west, until it spreads, at an elevation from 4,000 to 
8,000 feet, almost from ocean to gulf. This is Ana- 
huac, the so-called table-land of Mexico, a broad 
plateau upon which the picturesque romantic drama 
of Mexican history has been played. Upon this 
high plateau, which is by no means level, rise the 
crests of the great volcanic ridges, of which the 
highest are Popocatepetl and Istaccihuatl. The 
table-land rolls off northward at first, keeping its 
high level, growing narrower, gradually sinking as it 
approaches the Rio Grande, until at the boundary 
line of the United States it has fallen to 3,000 feet. 

Thus Mexico possesses three well defined climates, 
due to variation in altitude : the tierra calie^ite, or 
hot lands of the coast ; the tierra templada, or tem- 
perate region ; and the tierra frin, the cold regions 



THE SUBJECT. 7 

1 
of the mountain tops, more than 6,000 feet above the 

level of the sea. These climates, moreover, are 

modified by the latitude, so that between the cold 

altitudes of the northern portions, and the warm 

tropical levels of the south, there is a vast range of 

atmospheric change. 

Our story has its stage, for the most part in the 
tierra templada, where the year is divided into two 
seasons : the dry season, from Nbvember to May ; 
the rainy one, from June to October. The pleasant- 
er one is the rainy one, in spite of its name. The 
rains are not continuous, but fall usually late in the 
afternoon and during the night, leaving the morning 
bright and clear, and the air deliciously fresh and 
cool. All the year roses bloom in the city of Mex- 
ico, and there are places where you may eat straw- 
berries every day in the three hundred and sixty 
five. 

Spreading over the greater part of this lofty 
region, there are broad, level plains of rich verdure, 
bright with all imaginable wild-flowers growing in 
profusion ; large lakes, as picturesque as those of 
Northern Italy, surrounded by hills that are moun- 
tains, reckoning from the sea level ; lofty mountain 
peaks, eternally snow-covered, barren and rocky be- 
low their snow-summits, then clothed with pine, and 
nearer at hand with fine oaks and other trees of tem- 
perate climates. Brawling streams water the valleys, 
and at the edge of the plateau make deep barrancas, 
whose depths reach to the lower level, their danger- 
ous chasms hidden by rich growths. 

On this elevated plateau, which with all its va- 



8 TIJE STORY OF MEXICO. 

rlety seems a world of its own, until within the 
period of modern inventions all but inaccessible to 
the lower country and the ocean beyond, we find the 
traces of an ancient civilization, reaching backward 
until it is lost in legend. Long before the invasion 
of Anahuac by Cortes, it was inhabited by intelligent 
races of men. The mystery which hangs about 
these people makes the search for their history full 
of interest. In the present native population, we 
seek to find some clue to the manners and customs 
of the first inhabitants, by which to read the mean- 
ing of the monuments they have left. They are 
gone, their institutions overthrown by a power 
stronger than they were, by reason of the resources 
of advancing civilization, their idols and temples 
overturned by the zealots of another belief. 

Outraged by the human sacrifices of the Mexican 
tribes, Cortes destroyed, with a reckless hand, all the 
evidences of what he regarded heathen worship. In 
so doing, the records of the race were lost, together 
with carved images of gods. It is unfortunate that 
his zeal was not tempered with discrimination, for it 
is now difficult, through the clouds of exaggeration 
surrounding the Spanish Conquistadores, to find out 
what sort of people they were, who preceded 'them 
on Anahuac. 

Empires and palaces, luxury and splendor fill the 
accounts of the Spaniards, and imagination loves to 
adorn the halls of the Montezumas with the glories 
of an Oriental tale. Later explorers, with the fatal 
penetration of our time, destroy the splendid vision, 
reducing the emperor to a chieftain, the glittering 



THE SUBJECT. 9 

retinue to a horde of savages, the magnificent capi- 
tal of palaces to a pueblo of adobe. The discouraged 
enthusiast sees his magnificent civilization devoted 
to art, literature, and luxury, reduced to a few hand- 
f uls of pitiful Indians, quarrelling with one another for 
supremacy, and sighs to think his sympathies may 
have been wasted on the sufferings of an Aztec 
sovereign dethroned by the invading Spaniard. 

Yet perseverence, after brushing away the spark- 
ling cobwebs of exaggerated report, finds enough 
fact left to build up a respectable case for the early 
races of Mexico. Visible proofs of their importance 
exist in the monuments, picture writings, and, above 
all, their traditions, which, at all events, remain a 
pretty story, with a sediment of facts the student 
may precipitate for himself. These traditions make 
of the early settlers of Anahuac a very interesting 
study, all the more from their shadowy nature, leav- 
ing still much margin for fancy. 

They were overwhelmed by the Spaniards, but not 
destroyed, for the descendants of the conquered races 
still form a large proportion of the population of 
Mexico. Their teocallis and hideous carved gods 
gave way to Roman Catholic cathedrals and images 
of the Holy Virgin. Spanish viceroys, after the first 
atrocities of military discipline, ruled the gentle de- 
scendants of the Aztecs with a control for the most 
part mild and beneficent. The Catholic fathers who 
crossed the ocean to labor for the spiritual welfare of 
the natives, wisely engrafted upon the mysteries of 
their own faith the legends and .superstitions of the 
older belief. Thus we find in many of the religious 



lO THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ceremonies in Mexico, a wild, picturesque element, 
which is lacking in the church festivals of the Old 
World. 

When the Conquistadores took possession of the 
New Spain in the name of their royal master, the 
Emperor Charles V., he Avas one of the most power- 
ful of earthly monarchs. His son, Philip II., re- 
ceived the country as a part of his inheritance, along 
with realms which made him even greater than his 
father. But the successors of Philip II. knew not 
how to hold the possessions their fathers had won. 
Piece by piece their distant provinces were lost to 
them. Mexico, after two hundred years of neglect 
and mismanagement, shook herself free from Spanish 
rule ; since the early part of this century she has 
called herself independent, with the exception of the 
two brief periods when the ambition of two men, 
differing widely from each other in their antecedents 
and aims, caused them to attempt the role of " Em- 
peror of Mexico." Iturbide was the former of these; 
the latter, the ill-advised Maximilian. For the last 
twenty years, since the fall of Maximilian, Mexico 
has been a republic, with all the varying fortunes 
that attend a young institution struggling with in- 
experience and difficulty. A native population with 
an inheritance of superstition, prejudice, and oppres- 
sion, mixed with a race whose traditions are all in 
favor of arbitrary government, supplemented by 
immigrants from every other nation who have come, 
often with lawless intent, seldom with disinterested 
motives, and never inspired by any feeling that 
could be called patriotism, must wait long for that 



THE SUBJECT. II 

unanimity of public opinion and harmony of interest 
which ensure good government. 

At times it has seemed that no good could emerge 
from such opposing elements ; yet nature has fur- 
nished to Mexico material for a long siege ; broad 
territory with a faultless climate, mountains rich in 
every mineral resource, valleys well adapted for 
cultivation and grazing, a land where every industry 
may, under a stable government, be pursued with 
success. The character of the descendant of the 
Aztecs is mild and docile, capable, as many people 
think, of high development by education ; such bad 
qualities as Mexicans have developed from Spanish 
inheritance are, it is hoped, giving way before the 
progress of civilization and education. 

The past of the people who 'live upon Anahuac is 
wrapped in mystery. So is their future. Both are 
interesting problems, to be worked out from the 
legends of old time, and the narrative of the 
present. 




II. 



SHADOWY TRIBES. 



.Anahuac means " by the water." It is the ancient 
name for the great tract of land surrounding the 
lakes in the lofty valley of Mexico, — Chalco and 
Xochimilco, which are but one lake, properly speak- 
ing, the large Lake of Texcuco, and the smaller 
ones Zumpango and San Christobal. At first the 
name Anahuac was applied only to the neighbor- 
hood of the lakes, but later it came to be applied to 
the whole plateau. 

The Conquistadores, according to their own glow- 
ing account, found upon the shores of these lakes a 
busy population, with all the evidences of industry 
and prosperity. Temples, erected for worship, con- 
taining the images of strange gods, stood in the 
lofty places. Their monarch lived in a palace of 
luxury, surrounded by his guards ; he controlled a 
large army, which did battle for him against his 
enemies. His swift-footed messengers, without 
steam, without even horses, did his bidding even 
to the shores of the distant sea. Without printing, 
or telegraph, he received prompt information of 
distant events by pictures made on the spot by his 
special artist. Here was a civilization which had re- 

13 



SHADOWY TRIBES. 1 3 

ceived nothing from the courts of Europe, whose 
forms and ceremonies, while as rigid and as grand, 
borrowed nothing from the traditions of the royal 
house of Spain. 

Whence came this proud people which had con- 
quered for itself a place in that valley of the perfect 
climate ? 

About fifty miles from the city of Mexico is a 
town named Tula, formerly Tollan, which means 
perhaps " the place of many people." A road, 
shaded by great ash-trees leads across the river Tula, 
through a narrow pass to some ruins of an ancient 
civilization, ruins already when the city of Monte- 
zuma, which Cortes found flourishing, arose. A 
building of ancient stone is still there, laid in mud 
and covered with hard cement of a ruddy tint, with 
which the floors are also covered. The largest room 
in the building is not more than fifteen feet sqtiare. 
Another building farther on, larger than the first, is 
called the Casa Grande ; it contains about thirty 
small rooms, connected by stairways, as their height 
above the ground varies. The plaza of the little 
town Tula contains the portion of a column and 
the lower half of a colossal statue, which belong, 
as well as the buildings just described, to the period 
of the Toltecs, whose capital was the ancient Tol- 
lan. Their city was abandoned a hundred years be- 
fore the Aztecs entered it, and its founders scat- 
tered. Whence came the shadowy race whose 
history vaguely underlies that of later Mexican 
races ? 

The great mound which since Humboldt's time has 



14 THE SrOKY OF MEXICO, 

been called the pyramid of Cholula, of which every 
child has seen a picture in his geography, has now 
all the appearance of a natural hill. It is overgrown 
with verdure and trees ; torrents of water in the 
rainy seasons have cut crevices in its sides, and laid 
bare wide spaces. A good paved road now leads to 
the summit, where a pretty modern church looks 
down upon the little town of Cholula huddled 
round the base of the pyramid. The church and 
the road leading to it are the work of the Spaniards, 
but examination proves the whole mound to be 
built by men out of earth, broken limestone, little 
pebbles, and small bits of lava. Sun-dried bricks 
were employed, of varying sizes and diiTerent make, 
which aids the idea that the mound was built 
slowly and by differing methods. On the platform 
at the top, which was reached by five successive ter- 
races, Cortes found a temple, Avhich he caused to be 
destroyed. The dates fixed for the erection of this 
pyramid vary from the seventh to the tenth century 
of our era. Conjecture only offers explanation of 
the purpose for which it was erected. Legends 
which the neighboring Indians preserve say that it 
was built in preparation for a second deluge. An- 
other version is that men dazzled by the splendor of 
the scene sought to erect a tower which should reach 
the firmament ; the heavenly powers, wroth with their 
audacity, destroyed the edifice and dispersed the 
builders. Cholula was one of the important cities 
of the Toltecs, but its construction is attributed to 
an earlier people. 

Another monument of the ancient civilization is 



1 6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Xochicalco, seventy-five miles southwest of the city 
of Mexico. In the middle of a plain rises a cone- 
shaped height from three to four hundred feet 
high, whose base has an oval form two miles in 
circumference.. Two tunnels piercing the side of 
the mound open towards the north ; the first has 
been explored only eighty-two feet. The second 
penetrates the calcareous hill by a large gallery nine 
feet and a half high, with several branches in differ- 
ent directions. The ground is paved. The walls 
are supported by mason-work cemented and covered 
with red ochre. The principal gallery leads to a hall 
eighty feet long, whose ceiling is kept in place by 
the aid of two pilasters. In one corner of this hall 
is a little recess, excavated like the rest out of the 
solid rock, with an ogival dome of Gothic aspect. 

So much for the interior. Outside are five suc- 
cessive terraces of mason-work sustained by walls 
surmounted by parapets. At the summit stand 
upon a broad platform the ruins of the temple for 
which the mound was apparently destined ; it is a 
rectangular building constructed of blocks of por- 
phyritic granite placed on each other without the aid 
of mortar, with such skill that the joinings were 
scarcely visible. In 1755 the temple still preserved 
five stories ; at the top was a stone, which might 
have served as a seat, covered like the rest of the 
building with strange ornaments carved in the stone. 

Works evidently for defence testify to the con- 
stant fighting which must have been waged over 
Anahuac. In the province of Vera Cruz, at Huatusco, 
there are traces of fortifications stretching towards 



SHADOWY TRIBES. 1/ 

the north. Ceutla seems to have been one of the 
chief points chosen for defence. The plain is cov- 
ered with ruins. A forest conceals and at the same 
time protects several pyramids of stone bound with 
mortar. These pyramids are the most striking fea- 
ture of this ancient architecture. The teocallis or 
palaces at Palenque and Copan, ruins found in 
Yucatan and Honduras, are erected on truncated 
pyramids like those of Ahahuac. They are all of 
one primitive type, although differing in details of 
material and form. 

These ruins, still left to attest the power of the 
great vanished nations who erected them, are rapidly 
disappearing. The Spanish conquerors were amazed 
at their size and importance — so much so that in 
their description they often exaggerated their splen- 
dor. Some of them Cortes destroyed ; whatever he 
spared, gradually falls away, through neglect, theft, 
or other ravage of time. Forests of tropical growth 
have hidden the wonders of Palenque from destruc- 
tion. Other such places may yet exist all undiscov- 
ered ; and it is probable that the researches of sci- 
entific explorers will in time bring to light much 
information about the builders of these monuments. 
Meanwhile we must again turn to conjecture, and in 
the absence of facts to keep it within bound, we may 
indulge our imagination, and play with legend. 

Far away from some distant home, early in the 
dim traditional annals of Anahuac, men came to 
settle upon its plains. They found there a race of 
giants — strange, fierce men, of immense strength, 
— whose ancestors perhaps had struggled Avith pre- 



1 8 THE STORY OF MEXICO, 

historic beasts, of which the bones He buried deep 
below the present surface. This race of giants was 
wild and rude; they lived by hunting, and devoured 
raw the flesh of the game they secured with bows 
and arrows ; they were brave, daring, and agile, but 
were given over to the vice of drunkenness. 

We cannot stop to be very much interested in.this 
rudimentary people, called Quinames, who have left 
us scarcely more than a name, and little even of le- 
gend to charm us. The pyramid of Cholula and that 
of Teotihuacan are ascribed to them, rather by way 
of pushing back these monuments to an ancient pe- 
riod. Their conception and execution show ambi- 
tion, perhaps veneration, as well as determination 
and perseverance. 

Whence they came, therefore, it is vain to specu- 
late : how long they were there, what manner of 
men they were. A wave of life more civilized swept 
down upon them from the north and exterminated 
the whole race, so that we have nothing more to tell 
about them. The tribes which have the credit of 
destroying the giants bear the names of Xicalancas 
and Ulmecas. They paused a while upon the pla- 
teau, and passed on to people the coasts of the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

Next came the Mayas, still always from the north. 
Although they left some traces upon Anahuac, they 
too moved farther on, to establish in Yucatan and the 
territory between Chiapas and Central America their 
greatly advanced civilization. Of this great family 
the many different branches speak dialects varying 
from the mother tongue, but allied to each other. 



SHADOWY TRIBES. 1 9 

The Otomis, still with the same northern origin, 
spread themselves very early over the territory which 
is now occupied by the states of San Luis, Potosi, 
Guanajuato, and Queretaro, reaching Michoacan, and 
spreading still farther. These were a rough people 
who lurked among the mountains, avoiding the life 
of large communities. They have left no record of 
progressive civilization. Their descendants are still 
traced in the regions which they chiefly occupied, 
by peculiarities of dialect. Mixtecas and Zapotecas 
are names of other peoples who came to occupy Ana- 
huac, but the Toltecs are the first of these ancient 
tribes distinguished for the advancement of their 
arts and civilization, of which their monuments and 
the results of excavation give abundant proof. 

The legends of those tribes who came to Mexico 
over the broad path leading down from the north 
refer to an ancient home, of which they retained a 
sad, vague longing, as the Moor still dreams of the 
glories of Granada. They preserved the tradition of 
their long migrations in their hieroglyphics and pic- 
tured writings. These tra'ditions bear a strong re- 
semblance to each other, and the dialects of the suc- 
cessive races which appeared in Mexico are so similar 
that it is probable they all belong to the same lan- 
guage, which is called Nahuatl. All these races are 
generalized as the Nahuas. 

One of the traditions relates that seven families 
alone were saved from the Deluge. Their descend- 
ants, after long and weary wanderings, fixed them- 
selves at Huehue-Tlapallan (the Old, Old, Red Rock), 
a fertile country and agreeable to live in, near a broad 



20 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

and endless river, flowing from mountains far away 
to an ever distant sea. On the shore of the river 
were broad plains where cattle grazed. The moun- 
tains, with summits reaching to the heavens, were 
full of game. The winters were long, but the sum- 
mers mild and agreeable. There the parents of the 
Nahuas dwelt long and happily, but at last enemies, 
whose attacks they had been obliged from time to 
time to resist, overcame them, and drove them from 
their homes. It was then they descended towards 
the south, seeking a land which should remind them 
of their favored home. Only when they reached the 
plateau of Auahuac, near the great lakes which 
reminded them of their mighty river, could they rest. 
Such legends as these, and the forms of the pyra- 
mids found in Mexico and Yucatan, lead naturally 
to the guess that these races were the descendants of 
the Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley, Ohio, 
and Missouri. The monuments of these prehistoric 
men are not unlike the teocallis and pyramids of the 
Nahuas. The "mounds" are artificial hills of earth, 
constructed with mathematical regularity, round, 
oval, or square. They are finished at the top by 
platforms, destined, apparently, to religious rites. 
Like those in Mexico, the Mounds, in their form and 
the great number of them, bear evidence to the pro- 
longed existence of the race who built them, to long 
years of labor, and thousands of workmen employed 
in their construction. Excavation has brought to 
light implements of war and household use, which 
show both taste and skill, and these objects are 
much alike in their general aspect, whether found in 



SHADOWY TRIBES. 21 

the valley of the Mississippi or of Mexico. Such 
conjectures are full of attraction ; but the)'' have, as 
yet, no solid foundation. As for the Mouhd Builders, 
their name, by which we now designate them, is but 
a modern label. Their own is effaced from the 
memory of men. Their origin is equally lost, and 
the time of their existence, the date of their monu- 
ments, are vanished in a vague past. 

To associate, then, these Mound Builders with 
the early wandering tribes who descended to the 
plateau of Anahuac, is no help, at present, to the 
student of Mexican antiquity. Yet the idea is 
pleasing to the imagination ; and it is even reason to 
hope that future discoveries in either region may 
throw light upon the early stay of the other. 

Had we sure knowledge that the Mound Builders 
and the Nahuas were of the same race, we should 
still have to inquire whence came they all before 
they settled in the Mississippi valley, were driven 
out by their enemies, and migrated to the Mexican 
plateau? Such speculations are the pastime of the 
student of lost races. For him to dream of the pos- 
sible homes of a set of people where traces are but 
faintly to be discerned, is as fascinating as building 
airy castles in Spain. 

The theory of a submerged continent beneath the 
Azores, opposite the mouth of the' Mediterranean, 
which might be the island described by Plato, At- 
lantis, the region where man first emerged from a 
condition like that of beasts to a constantly advan- 
cing state of civilization, plays a part in the fancies of 
those who are wondering about the origin of the 
Nahuatl tribes of Anahuac. 



22 THE STOKY OF MEXICO. 

The distant home of which they all preserved the 
legend under one name or another, one of which was 
Aztlan, the musical title given it by the Mexicans, 
was, perhaps, Atlantis, the broad and mighty realm 
where mankind in its childhood lived for generations 
in tranquillity and happiness. Huehue-Tlapallan, 
Aztlan, Atlantis, these names represent the universal 
tradition of this early home. The world before the 
Deluge, the Garden of Eden, the Garden of the 
Hesperides, the Elysian Fields, Olympus, Asgard, — 
all these are but different terms to express the vague 
vision in men's minds of a happy past. If the 
theory of Atlantis could be true, these were not 
mere visions but traditions preserving a consistent 
recollection of real historical events, of a populous 
and mighty cradle of nations which peopled the 
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi, the 
Amazon, and the Pacific coasts of South America, 
as well as the older world. 

Atlantis, according to the story, perished in a ter- 
rible convulsion of nature, in which the whole island 
sank into the ocean with nearly all its inhabitants. 
Only a few persons escaped in ships and rafts to 
lands east and west of the catastrophe. Each of 
these separate survivors became, in the legend of 
his descendants, the solitary Noah or Coxcox of a 
tradition representing the destruction of an entire 
world. The Nahuatl legend helps out the theory of 
Atlantis to willing minds. The Noah of the Mexi- 
can tribes was Coxcox, who, with his wife Xochi- 
quetzal, alone escaped the deluge. They took ref- 
uge in the hollow trunk of a cypress {a/mehuete), 



SHADOWY TRIBES. 23 

which floated upon the water, and stopped at last 
on top of a mountain of Culhuacan. They had 
many children, but all of them were dumb. The 
great spirit took pity on them, and sent a dove, who 
hastened to teach them to speak. Fifteen of the 
children succeeded in grasping the power of speech, 
and from these the Toltecs and Aztecs are descended. 

Another account describes a deluge in which men 
perished and were changed to fish ; the earth disap- 
peared, and the highest mountain tops were covered 
with water. But before this happened, one of the 
Nahua gods, called Tezcatlipoca, spoke to a man 
named Nata and his wife Nana, saying : " Do not busy 
yourselves any longer m^kmg pulque, but hollow out 
for yourselves a large boat of an ahuehuete tree, and 
make your home in it when you see the waters rising 
to the sky." The Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, 
has conceived that after the dispersion of the human 
race, which succeeded the attempt to build the 
Tower of Babel, seven Toltecs reached America, and 
became the parents of that race. Thus having learned 
of the Tower of Babel from his Catholic instructors, 
Ixtlilxochitl skilfully pieces the Hebrew legend upon 
the Toltec fabric. 

The friends of the Atlantis theory in like manner 
seize upon the universal fable of the deluge to weave 
into their tissue. It remains for every reader to 
decide for himself whether to regard these theories 
as the airy fabric of a vision, or made up out of the 
whole cloth, 



III. 



TOLTECS. 




A SOMEWHAT connected chain of events begins 
with the traditions of the Toltecs upon the plateau 
of Anahuac. Their farthest ancestors, they sup- 
posed, founded the city of Huehue-Tlapallan far to 
the north, perhaps on the shores of the Colorado 
River. There they lived fronn genera- 
tion to generation, nobody knows how 
long, until great civil wars broke out in 
their nation, and a part, deserting their 
ancient homes, wandered down towards 
the south. This was in the year ^44. of 
our era. 

Guided by their great chief Huemat- 
zin, the Toltecs wandered over the 
sandy plains in the north of Mexico till 
they came to the land " near the water," 
fertile and promising, and finally settled 
in a place they called Tollanzinco. Not 
far off, in the course of time, they found- 
ed their great city of Tollan, now Tula, 
which became the centre of the Toltec 
nation. 

These people built so well and so 
24 





COLUMN FROM 
TULA. 



26 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

much that the name became the word to mean 
builders. The few ruins left of their capital attest 
their skill. They felt themselves to be a superior 
race to that they found in their new home. The 
Toltecs were tall, robust, and well-formed, of light- 
sallow complexion, with but little hair on their face. 
They were wonderful for running, and could run at 
the greatest speed for hours. Their manners were 
gentle and refined, as well as their tastes. Yet they 
were cruel in war as well as brave. 

Arrived in their new country, they set themselves 
to work to till the ground and plant it with all the 
crops the favorite climate permits. They had Indian 
corn, chile, frijoles, the beans so beloved to this day 
by the Mexicans, and other vegetables ; these they 
cultivated with better processes than the former in- 
habitants had known. Nevertheless, and although 
the proud Toltecas must have looked down on the 
native tribes, they took a step dictated by a wise 
diplomacy, in order to preserve harmony and good- 
fellowship with their neighbors. They invited the 
ruler of the Chichemecs, a tribe to the north of them, 
to provide them a chief from his family, and, much 
flattered, he sent them his second son. 

Some Toltec Richelieu must have planned this 
scheme, with the intention of keeping the real power 
in his own hands. 

Precious-stone-who-shines(Chalchiuhtlatonac),well 
pleased to sparkle in a new setting, came to them 
from the powerful neighboring tribe of the Chiche- 
mecs, and governed peacefully for the space of fifty- 
two years, while the Toltecs planted and reaped, and 
pursued their gentle way. 



TO L TECS. 27 

iThey spoke the tongue Nahuatl, giving to it their 
own dialect. They wrote, and studied the stars, by 
which they regulated their division of time. It is 
said they were the first in all Anahuac who knew 
geography. How much they knew we never shall 
know, still less how little those before them knew. 
They knew the properties of plants, how to heal the 
sick by using them, how to keep well. They were 
excellent carpenters; they worked precious stones 
with skill ; they wove their garments out of strong 
or delicate fabrics in many colors and designs, de- 
manding and creating for themselves not only the 
necessities of life, but the adornments of art and 
taste. In fact, the Toltecs were a worthy people, 
averse to war, allied to virtue, to cleanliness, courtesy, 
and good manners. They detested falsehood and 
treachery, and held their gods in reverence. 

The early faith of the Toltecs was the adoration 
of the sun, moon, and stars. Especially the power 
{tecuhtli) which warmed the earth and made it fruit- 
ful, giving them thus their chief blessings, they wor- 
shipped under the name Tonacatecuhtli, to whom 
they offered flowers, fruits, and sacrifices of small 
animals. Polytheism, and the sacrifice of human be- 
ings, which was later engrafted on this simple belief 
by other tribes, had no part in the early religion of 
the Toltecs. 

At the end of the tenth century, when in England 
the Danes were beginning to trouble the Anglo-Sax- 
ons, and Ethelreds and Edreds were retreating before 
Canutes and Hardicanutes ; when across the channel 
Hugh Capet had put an end to the feeble dynasties 
of the Carlovingian kings, and was taking for him- 



28 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

self the crown of France, began to rule Tecpancalt- 
zin, the eighth of the Toltec chiefs. We cannot 
tell what manner of court he held, whether rude or 
splendid. His territory stretched over large dis- 
tances, and counted many flourishing cities, among 
them Teotihuacan, Cholollan, Cuernavaca, and 
Toluca. 

Cuernavaca, " where the eagle stops," at an 
elevation of nearly five thousand feet above the 
sea, is built upon a headland projecting into a 
valley between two sharp barrancas. The region is 
richly watered, and produces now, as in the time of 
the Toltecs, abundant crops. Fruits also abound 
there. The winter climate is delightful. The place 
was captured by Cortes before he laid siege to the city 
of Mexico, It became his favorite resort, and the 
valley was included in the royal reward he received 
for his Mexican conquests. It was here that he be- 
gan in Mexico the cultivation of the sugar-cane, and 
here the Conquistador passed the last years of his 
life. Traces of the ancient civilization are still to be 
seen. Behind a house in the town called the Casa 
de Cortes is a solitary rock upon which are prehis- 
toric carvings ; on the crest of a little hill near by is 
a lizard about eight feet long carved in stone. Eigh- 
teen miles from Cuernavaca are the ruins of Xochi- 
calco, before mentioned. 

Toluca is forty-five miles west of the city of Mex- 
ico, at an elevation of 8,600 feet above the level of 
the sea. The scenery all the way from Mexico is of 
the finest description. The two volcanoes which dom- 
inate the valley, covered with snow, are behind, and 



TOL TECS. 29 

before us is the equally beautiful Nevada de Toluca, 
nearly as high as they. It is an extinct volcano, the 
crater of which is now a lake with a whirlpool in the 
middle of it. Here the Toltecs had a palace of 
stone decorated with hieroglyphics. Such was the 
broad territory over which ruled Tecpancaltzin. The 
lakes in the valley, much larger than they are now, 
were his, and all the fertile valleys around them, 
which his people knew well how to cultivate. His 
swift runners brought him from sunny Cuernavaca 
fruits of the tropics. Snow from the Nevadas, even 
in the hot days of summer, was at his disposition. 
His warriors kept his neighbors in proper awe, and 
he lived at peace with all men. 

It was then, according to some reckonings, that 
the mysterious Quetzalcoatl appeared in Tollan. He 
must have been a real personage, for the tale is deeply 
rooted in the traditions of the country, of the white 
man with a long beard .who came from the East, and 
disappeared as mysteriously as he had come, over the 
Atlantic Ocean. The Toltecs were dark, with scanty 
beards and short ; thisstrangerwas absolutely unlike 
them. He remained with them twenty years, teach- 
ing them the arts of a better civilization. Recent 
study has busied itself with extinguishing the beams 
which surround the bright image of this wonderful be- 
ing. Before the traditions of his greatness are thus 
swept away, we will preserve them for a little longer. 
Quetzalcoatl(The Shining Snake) is sometimes de- 
scribed as one of the four principal gods who shared 
with the terrible Huitzilopochtli the work of the first 
creation. Elsewhere he is represented as a man who 



30 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

came to live among the Toltecs, and who disap- 
peared as mysteriously as he came. Between the 
two accounts of him, then, is every shade of matter- 
of-fact and miraculous in the tales that are preserved 
of him. One, shown in an ancient painted writing, 
now lost, depicted him a youth, fasting seven years 
alone among the hills, and drawing his blood, be- 
cause the gods made of him a great warrior, showed 
how he became chief of Tula, selected by the inhab- 
itants on account of his bravery, and how he built 
them a great temple. " While he was doing this, 
Tezcatlipoca came to him, and said that towards 
Honduras, in a place called Tlapalla, he was to es- 
tablish his home, and that he must leave Tula and 
go thither to live and die, and there he should be held 
to be a god. To this he replied that the heavens and 
the stars had told him .to go within four years. So, 
after four years were past, he left, taking along with 
him all the able-bodied men of Tula. Some of these 
he left in the City of Cholula, and from these the in- 
habitants are descended. Reaching Tlapalla, he fell 
sick the same day, and died the following one. 
Tula remained waste and without a chief nine years." 

A legend adds that " his ashes were carried to 
heaven by handsome birds ; the heart followed, and 
became the morning star." 

Baudelier concludes him to have been a prominent 
gifted Indian leader, perhaps of Toltec origin, per- 
haps Olmec. He suggests that his career began in 
the present state of Hidalgo, in which are the ruins 
of ancient Tula, and that his first stay was there, af- 
ter which he left that people and moved farther 




QUETZALCOATL. 



31 



32 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

south, and settled at Cholula ; perhaps founding 
there the first settlement, perhaps elevating the tone 
of the village Indians already settled there. The 
beneficial effects of the coming of Quetzalcoatl 
were the introduction, or improvement, of the arts 
of pottery, weaving, stonework, and feather-work ; 
the organization of government of a higher type, and 
the introduction of a mode of worship free from hu- 
man sacrifice. Perhaps his aversion to this bloody 
custom made him withdraw to the mythical Tlapal- 
la, a place on no map and only known to tradition, 
which puts it on the sea-coast, and generally on the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

The mystery of his departure and death led to his 
deification, and the worship of his person became the 
leading feature of the rehgion at Cholula. 

It is likely that The Shining Serpent developed, if 
he did not originate, many of the gentle and grace- 
ful forms of worship, which still have a great part of 
the religion of the simple Indians of Mexico, of sac- 
rificing the fruits and flowers, of each season to its 
appropriate divinity and festival. 

In Holy Week, now, in the city of Mexico, the 
shores of the canal leading to the town are decorated 
with flowers. Native boats float over the water 
heaped with bright blossoms, and the dark heads of 
the Indian girls are crowned with wreaths of pop- 
pies. They bring these blossoms in masses to dec- 
orate the altars of Nuestra Sefiora in the churches. 
Her image is the symbol of their divinity transferred 
from the earlier idols their remote ancestors wor- 
shipped. 



TOLTECS. 33 

In the National Museum in Mexico is an image in 
the form of a coiled serpent in pyramidal form — its 
body covered with feathers — carved of basaltic por- 
phyry. This model, which appears in many of the 
old monuments, is regarded as the symbol of the 
mysterious Shining Serpent. 

Whatever were his serious claims to distinction, his 
worshippers invested him with wonderful attributes. 
His sojourn in their land marked its most prosper- 
ous period. In his time the seasons were the fairest, 
the earth the most productive. Flowers blossomed, 
fruits ripened without the toil of the gardener. The 
cotton in its pod turned blue, red, or yellow without 
the trouble of the dyer, so that the fabrics lightly 
woven and without fatigue took on rich and har- 
monious tints. The air was continually filled with 
perfumes and the songs of sweet birds. Every man 
loved his neigjhbor, and all dwelt in peace and har- 
mony together. These were the halcyon days of 
Anahuac. For twenty years the Toltecs knew no 
disaster, but flourished and spread under the influ- 
ence of their strange protector. And then, one day 
the strange god disappeared from among them, de- 
scending to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, where 
he bade farewell to the crowd that had followed him, 
promising, as he did so, that in the fulness of time 
his descendants, white men like himself, with full 
beards, should return and instruct them. Then he 
stepped into a magic bark made of the skins of 
serpents, and sailed away over an ocean unknown 
to these simple men towards the fabled land of 
Tlapalla. 



34 THE S7^0RY OF MEXICO. 

So Lohengrin vanished to the upper air, and as 
with those he left behind, all their good luck was 
over for the Toltecs. 

They did their best to preserve the memory of 
Quetzalcoatl. On the top of the pyramid of Cho- 
lula, which perhaps their fathers found standing 
when they reached the haven of their pilgrimage, 
the Toltecs raised an image of their deity, with fea- 
tures of ebony, although he was white ; with a mitre 
on its head waving with plumes of fire ; with a re- 
splendent collar of gold around its neck, turquoise 
ear-rings, a sceptre all jewelled in one hand, and in 
the other a strange shield. Such is the description 
of the Conquistadores, who saw it ; and as they de- 
stroyed it, and tumbled it down from its lofty site, 
they should know. 

Evil days were coming to the Toltecs. 

The traveller in Mexico to-day sees growing all 
along the sides of the railway huge stiff bunches 
of the Agave Americana. The leaves are long and 
pointed with prickles along the edge, growing in a 
tuft like huge artichokes. Their blue, rather than 
green, surface has a whitish bloom over it, which 
makes the plants look as if they had been made of 
tin and painted some time ago. Sometimes the 
leaves are very large, and the bunches enormous. 
When the time comes a stem shoots up from the 
heart of the tuft to a great height, putting out 
branches at the top, which blossom in a cluster of 
yellowish flowers. These branches are symmetrical, 
and the effect is like a lofty branched candlestick, 
sometimes forty feet high. The blossoms fade ; the 



TOLTECS. 35 

dying stalk, like the framework of last year's fire- 
works, remains a long time ; and when these plants, 
as they often are, are set along the railways, the line 
of tall bare stems looks not unlike a row of telegraph 
poles. The blue tin leaves are ever green, and last 
through many a year. 

This agave, or American aloe, is the century-plant, 
so called from the popular error that it blossoms 
only once in a hundred years. It is only true so far that 
each plant blossoms only once and then dies. In 
tropical regions this process proceeds rapidly; in 
colder countries, where it is raised artificially, it 
takes a long time to complete its perfect growth. 

The agave is native in the whole region between 
the tropics of America, where it flourishes from the 
sandy soil by the sea to table-lands and mountain 
altitudes. From its, natural region it has been trans- 
planted everywhere, and even in cold climates it is 
cultivated as a green-house plant. In Spain, where 
it was early transplanted, among the other novelties 
which the Conquistadores introduced from their new 
land, it is absolutely at home. Its lofty candelabra 
are an ornament to Andalusian roadsides, and a bar- 
rier for wandering cattle. In Spain it is called //V^^, 
which must be a different variety, if not a totally dis- 
tinct genus from the common plant of Mexico, for 
the use of its juices for a beverage is totally unknown 
in the old country, and this certainly would have 
been discovered there if such properties had not 
been wanting in the Spanish plant. 

For the agave of the Mexicans is their maguey, 
from which they extract pulque, the national bever- 



36 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

age. The agave has served them for many other 
purposes, from the earliest times. Its bruised 
leaves, properly dressed and polished, make a sort of 
paper; its leaves furnish a strong protecting thatch 
for the roofs of houses ; thread can be drawn from its 
long fibrous texture ; the thorns furnish a fair sub- 
stitute for the pin and needle ; and the root, well 
prepared, is nutritious and palatable as food. 

Of all these properties of the agave the Toltecs 
were cognizant. If their wise friend. The Shining 
Serpent, knew of other attributes it had, he kept si- 
lent. It was reserved for a woman to reveal to her 
race the fatal gift which lay hidden in the blue-green 
stubborn leaves of the prickly plant. 

Xochitl was the name of the woman who showed 
to the king, Tecpancaltzin, how to extract from the 
heart of the maguey a sweet honey to drink, which, 
from that time to this, has been the delight and the 
curse of Mexicans. The plains of Apan are cele- 
brated for the production of the finest pulque, in it- 
self a thoroughly wholesome drink, suited to the 
climate of high regions, and beneficial when taken 
in moderation. From the root of the maguey, how- 
ever, strong distilled liquors can be made, called 
mezcal and tequila, and of these it is best not to 
drink to much. 

The new beverage found favor with the chief of 
the Toltec tribe, and spread its cheerful influence 
over his people. He married Xochitl, the woman 
who had offered him honey extracted from maguey. 

The result of this discovery, and the consequence 
of the marriage, were ruin and dispersion for the 
proud race of the Toltecs. Meconetzin, (Son of 



TO L TECS. 37 

Maguey) ruled at first with prudence and practical 
wisdom, but his habits deteriorated little by little ; 
he became vicious, and revealed himself to be an in- 
supportable tyrant. The honey in the maguey had 
begun to ferment. 

The Toltecs thenceforth deteriorated in the most 
disastrous manner. Famines and pests fell upon 
the land, and invasions of strange peoples. The 
population was thinned, harried, scattered. Its last 
^chieftain was Topiltzin-Meconetzin (Son of Maguey), 
who, with his wife, Xochitl, was slain in a sanguinary 
battle against overpowering enemies. And this was 
the end of the Toltecs. This may have been in the 
year Iii6 of our era, after a duration of about five 
hundred and fifty years. 

Some historians consider that the Toltecs were 
not a great race, but simply a tribe of sedentary 
Indians, more advanced than their neighbors, whose 
traditions have become with time exaggerated into 
the tale of a great and powerful nation. How this 
may be, the tourist at Tula may judge, according to 
his disposition, romantic or prosaic, by the import- 
ance of the ruins left by the vanished race. 

The excellent coinpendios of history written by 
Payne and Zarate for the use of schools in Mexico 
still give the dynasties of the kings of Tula, as well 
as of the other early tribes, as if they were sovereigns 
of a well-established monarchy, accompanied by a list 
of the royal succession. According to this, the king- 
dom of the Toltecs lasted from 720 A.D., the date fixed 
for the end of their wanderings from Huehue-Tlapal- 
lan to Tollan, until 11 16 A.D., when their destruction 
was accomplished and their people dispersed. 




IV. 



CHICHIMECS. 



According to the old version of Anahuac story, 
the proud, brilliant dynasty of the Toltecs shone 
like a jewel upon the background of the savage 
tribes surrounding it, who remained during the pe- 
riod it flourished in the same condition as when the 
Toltecs came. It was from one of these less culti- 
vated races that the Toltecs took their first chief, 
Chalchiuhtlatonac, son of the so-called Emperor of 
the Chichimecs, to whose account is attributed a 
line of fourteen monarchs, and a duration of over 
two hundred years, but all this is very uncertain 
and vague ; on the other hand, Baudelier is of opin- 
ion that there was no Chichimecan period in Mexico. 
The word Chichimecatl signifies indiscriminately a 
savage, a good hunter, or a brave warrior. The far-off 
region from which they immigrated like the other 
tribes upon Anahuac, called by them Amaquemecan, 
like the Huehue-Tlapallan of the Toltecs, was a 
fertile country of their dreams, pleasant to work in, 
and free from earthly disasters. 

Probably they came from the same region as the 
Toltecs ; their language is classed with the Nahuatl, 
though their dialect was their own. They called 

38 



CHICHIMECS. 39 

themselves the Eagles. They not only had no • cul- 
ture, but scorned it, preferring the advantages of bar- 
barism. Their occupation was. hunting, which was 
fully furnished them by the game in the mountain 
regions, which they found unclaimed, and took 
possession of. They lived upon the flesh of wolves 
and pumas, — their smaller dishes were weasels, moles, 
and mice, without objecting to lizards, snakes, grass- 
hoppers, and earthworms. 

The Chichimecs seem to have wandered about 
completely naked, with skins of beasts to protect 
them from the occasional cold of their mild climate. 
Their houses were, for the most part, caves or cracks 
in the rocks, but they knew how to build rude huts, 
roofed Avith palm leaves. Gourds were their drink- 
ing vessels, and they could make a rude sort of pot- 
tery, out of which they fashioned jugs, and also little 
balls used for bullets in war, which could make dan- 
gerous wounds. They were always at war with their 
neighbors, and protected their own territory from in- 
cursions with their bows and arrows, and clubs, 
which they handled with great vigor. 

Each warrior of the Chichimecs wore a bone at 
his waist, which carried a mark for every enemy he 
had killed. Competition was sure to keep these 
bones well marked, as it was a distinction to bear the 
record of the most victims. Their battles were 
bloodthirsty. Prisoners were scalped upon the field 
of battle, and their heads carried in triumph back to 
camp, while dances of victory were performed. They 
had the reputation of eating the flesh and drinking 
the blood of their victims. 



40 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The several tribes of the Chichimecs acknowl- 
edged no authority, other than obedience to the war- 
rior they themselves selected to lead them to battle. 
Their wives were their slaves; and though they lim- 
ited themselves to one wife at a time, they reserved 
to themselves the liberty of changing one for another 
at any moment. The women prepared the food, cut 
down trees, brought wood and water, and made the 
pottery — bullets as well as pots and pans. The Chi- 
chimecs feared and worshipped the sun as a supreme 
deity, and the spirit of the thunder and lightning, 
whom they rudely depicted with bolts in his hands, 
like Jupiter, and called Nixcoatl, (the Serpent of the 
Clouds). 

These were the people who lived side by side with 
the Toltecs, their better-behaved neighbors, despised 
as inferiors, and regarded with disgust for their 
coarseness and horror for their bloody practices. By 
these, the Toltecs were conquered and destroyed. 

Xolotl, the leader of the Chichimecs, to use the 
greatly exaggerated reports gathered from historic 
paintings, which depicted these things, came to in- 
vade the realm of the Toltecs with a million warriors 
under six great chiefs, and twenty thousand or so 
of inferior officers. He had under his command 
more than three million men and women, not count- 
ing the children who came along with their mothers. 
The Toltecs were much deteriorated since their 
proud days. Allies whom they had oppressed had 
deserted them ; a religious sect which differed from 
the prevailing belief had sought elsewhere a place of 
independent worship ; the sovereign and his favorites 



CHICHIMECS. 41 

were delivered over to dissipation. But even the 
royal family gave proof of energy and resolution 
when the hour of danger came. 

An old chief, named Ayaxitl, called the country to 
arms, inspiring them with tales of the deeds of their 
ancestors. Old men and young boys took up arms ; 
and old Xochitl herself, the mother of the inefficient 
king, led forth to battle a legion of Amazons, and 
was slain at their front. But all this show of bravery 
came too late. The Toltecs were entirely defeated 
after a prolonged conflict, which was renewed for 
several days. Tollan was taken, the whole country 
surrendered, and its ruling race entirely exterminated. 

The Toltecs were no more, and the Chichimecs 
ruled in. their stead. But these people, recovering 
from their barbarism in a measure, took on the ad- 
vanced customs of their conquered enemies, entered 
into their palaces, and enjoyed the fruits of their 
civilization. 

Xolotl took the title of Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, the 
great chief of the Chichimecs ; and his descendants 
added to this the name Huactlatohani (Lord of 
the Whole World). The territory claimed for him 
included a large part of the present Mexico, the 
states Morelos and Puebla, a portion of Vera Cruz, 
the greater part of Hidalgo, the whole of Tlaxcalla, 
and the valley of Mexico. He strengthened his 
power by marrying his son to a daughter of the late 
Toltec sovereign, saved from the destruction of the 
race, and altogether showed wisdom and judgment 
not to be expected from the antecedents of his 
people. Such conduct inclines students of this re- 



42 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

mote period to think that these Chichimecs were 
not the barbarous tribe who lived in caves and 
ate lizards, but a later arrival from the mysterious 
north. 

During the reign of Xolotl new tribes came wan- 
dering down from these remote regions. These 
successive waves of emigration give the idea of a 
constantly renewed struggle for supremacy far off in 
the unknown Amaquemecan, resulting in the migra- 
tion of the conquered side. Xolotl received these 
new arrivals with benign hospitality, gave them 
lands to plant, and encouraged them to settle in his 
realm. Among these were the Aculhuas and Te- 
panecs, who founded the kingdoms, afterwards 
important, of Atzcapotzalco and Tlacopan. 

Xolotl had the credit of reigning from 1 120 to 1232, 
when he died. This would make him at least one 
hundred and twenty years old at his death. And 
some people from this imagine that there were sev- 
eral Xolotls that succeeded one another. Let us 
believe that he lived to this great age. The name 
means " Eye of great vigilance." 

For three generations his immediate successors 
ruled the kingdom with firmness and judgment, com- 
pelling their people to cultivate the land, thus pro- 
tecting agriculture, which was their chief source of 
wealth, and building towns to put an end to wander- 
ing habits inherited from the men who lived in caves 
on the mountain side. 

Quinatzin, in the beginning of the thirteenth 
century, established the capital of the kingdom of 
the Chichimecs in Texcuco. It was during his 



CHICHIMECS. 



43 



reign that the Aztecs, or Mexicans, whom we now 
hear of for the f^rst time, established themselves in 
Tenochtitlan, which was on the site of what is now 
the city of Mexico, though their arrival made but 




PORTICO AT KABOH. 

httle stir in the neighborhood. The Chichimecs 
were troubled by quarrels with the new kingdom of 
Atzcapotzalco, but for a century they maintained 
their good standing, always advancing in civilization 
and the arts of peace, and it was not until 1409 that 



44 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

one of their kings, Ixtlilxochitl, found these rising 
neighbors too strong for him. The Tepanecs and 
the Aztecs united, and swore together a conspiracy 
to overwhelm him. He was assassinated, and his 
throne was usurped by Tezozomoc, the king of 
Atzcapotzalco. 

The Chichimecs may be said to come to an end 
here; for, after the return of the legitimate line, 
their realm was called the kingdom of Texcuco, 
where their capital was already established. This 
city was occupied by the invaders, who made it their 
principal seat. The usurper at his death was suc- 
ceeded upon his stolen throne by his wicked son 
Maxtla. The adventures of Nezahualcoyotl, the 
rightful heir, are told by a native historian descend- 
ed in a direct line from the sovereigns of Texcuco, 
Ixtlilxochitl, whose writings, though probably not 
over accurate, are more tangible evidence than the 
faint reports of previous legends. 




V. 

NEZAHUALCOYOTL, THE HUNGRY FOX. 

When the city of Texcuco was seized, the young 
prince Nezahualcoyotl, the heir to the crown, was 
but fifteen years old. He fled before the turbulent 
crowd of Tepanecs as they rushed into the palace 
gardens, and hid himself in the branches of a tree 
which most luckily happened to come in his way. 
From his hiding-place among its thick leaves he saw 
his father, Ixtlilxochitl, left alone for the moment 
turn and face his furious enemies. They seized and 
killed him on the spot, and the frightened boy saw 
the bleeding body carried off, a victim, as he well 
knew, for future sacrifice. Filled with horror and 
burning with thoughts of vengeance, he fled from 
the spot, seeking safety for the moment, with the 
firm resolve of turning later upon the assassins of 
his father and the usurpers of his inheritance. 

As the country was full of the triumphant army, 
in a few days the young prince fell into the hands of 
his pursuers, who knew too much to leave him at 
large. He was seized and imprisoned temporarily, 
until some decision should be taken as to his fate. 
The prison was a strong place guarded by the same 
governor who had held it in the previous reign, for 

45 



46 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the new government had not yet had time to change 
such offices. This old man knew the prince well, 
and was devoted to his line. He helped him to es- 
cape and took his place in the dungeon cell. It was 
long enough before the change was discovered for 
the prince to be far out of reach of pursuit. The 
good old governor lost his head, but Nezahualcoyotl 
found shelter in the neighboring province of Tlax- 
calla, whose rulers were for the moment friendly to 
his family. 

This is the place which later offered to Cortes pro- 
tection and aid in his enterprise of conquest. Pres- 
cott calls it a republic in the midst of many small 
monarchies, dwelling apart on a system of govern- 
ment wholly independent. 

Climbing by rail the ascent from Vera Cruz, the 
modern traveller, after reaching the barren plateau 
of the cold region, and crossing a dreary, dismal 
country, strikes an insensibly downward grade, 
which gradually leads him to the central basin of 
Mexico. The Malinche presides over the landscape, 
an isolated peak, which all the year conceals beds of 
snow in the crevices of its summit, though unseen 
below, rising more than thirteen thousand feet 
above the level of the sea. Less majestic than the 
two great volcanoes, it yet has wonderful beauty of 
outline, and from its solitary position gains im- 
portance. 

This mountain was long the object of worship for 
the tribes who lived around its base, among them 
the Tlaxcallans, whose home lies to the northwest 
of it, in a deep valley surrounded by barren ridges. 



NEZAHUALCOYOTL, THE HUNGRY FOX. 47 

Their so-called social organization and mode of gov- 
ernment, which have given their country the name 
of a kind of Mexican Switzerland, is now thought to 
have differed little from those of their neighbors. 
Their chiefs were elected from an hereditary house 
of rulers, and two of them formed the nominal head 
of the tribe, while the true power lay in a council. 
Their territory consisted of narrow valleys spreading 
into fertile fields, where they maintained long their 
independence, subject to the attacks of neighboring 
tribes. Tlaxcalla means " the land of bread." Its 
rich products naturally were tempting to the neigh- 
boring tribes, whose limits included land not so 
good for cultivation. Their next neighbors were 
the Cholulans, who dwelt under the great pyramid. 
The Tlaxcallans had the reputation of triumphing 
over their foes in battle, for they were both bold 
and strong. 

It was with the friendly Tlaxcallans that the wan- 
dering prince lived, unmolested in the companion- 
ship of a brave man who followed the fortunes of his 
young master. He had been the family preceptor 
ever since the birth of the prince. This tutor was 
wise as well as learned ; although he was strongly 
prejudiced in favor of the legitimate family and 
against the usurpation of the fierce Tepanec, he coun- 
selled restraint and patience, and caused his pupil to 
lead a quiet life without attracting attention, while 
he was giving him lessons in the art of governing 
and training in all the qualities good for a monarch 
to possess. 

Meanwhile, the son of the usurper grew up un- 



48 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

trained and indulged in the royal palace, humored 
but feared by all who surrounded him. Maxtla was 
born of a race of no gentle attributes ; he cared little 
for study, and knew no discipline. He knew the 
rightful prince, and hated him on account of his bet- 
ter claim to the throne, while he despised his reserve 
and modesty, which he set down to weakness, knowing 
nothing of the qualities of self-restraint and reserved 
force. When Tezozomoc died, he bequeathed his 
empire to his son Maxtla. On the accession of the 
new sovereign, all the great families hastened to do 
him homage, and among them came Nezahualcoyotl, 
then twenty-three years old, with a present of 
flowers, which he laid at the feet of the young king. 
Maxtla sprang up and spurned the flowers with his 
foot, and then turned his back upon the true 
prince, who had self-control enough to withdraw 
quietly, admonished by signs from all the royal 
attendants, with whom he was a favorite. He lost 
no time in leaving the royal palace, and hastened 
back to the deserted one at Texcuco. 

But Maxtla could not fail to see that the sympa- 
thies even of his own followers were with his rival, 
whose manners, indeed, were those to win, while his 
own repelled the affection of courtiers and inferiors. 
He resolved to do away with him, and formed a plan 
which failed through the vigilance of the wily old 
tutor. When the prince was invited to an evening 
entertainment by Maxtla, the tutor was sure that 
more was meant than a friendly attention. He 
could not permit his pupil to go, but accepted the 
invitation for him, and sent in his stead a young man 



NEZAHUALCOYOTL, THE HUNGRY FOX. 49 

he had at hand who singularly resembled Nezahual- 
coyotl. This youth, perhaps, was pleased to attend 
a royal feast, dressed in the rich robes which the son 
of a king, even if lacking a throne, might wear ; but 
there must have been a moment, just as he felt the 
deadly iztli weapon at his throat, when he perceived 
the game was not worth the candle ; for the guest 
was assassinated as he came to the table, before the 
substitution could be perceived ; and thus the true 
prince escaped. His descendant, who tells us the 
story, does not let us know whether Nezahualcoyotl 
was a party to the deception. We will leave the 
blame on the shoulders of the wily old tutor, in 
order to preserve the honor of our hero unsullied. 

When Maxtla found that his rival was not dead, 
like a prince in a fairy tale, he gave up secret plots, 
and boldly sent a band of armed soldiers to the old 
palace at Texcuco, to seize the young man whose 
popularity he feared. The tutor, always on the watch, 
arranged everything as usual, and when the emissaries 
of Maxtla arrived, they found the prince playing ball in 
the court of the palace. He received them cour- 
teously, as if he thought they came on a friendly 
visit, and invited them to come in, while he stepped 
into a room which opened on the court, as if to give 
orders for refreshments for them. They seemed to 
be seeing him all the time, but, by the directions of 
the old tutor, a censer which stood in the passage was 
so fed and stirred by the servants that it threw up 
clouds of incense between the guests and their host, 
between which Nezahualcoyotl disappeared into a 
secret passage which communicated with a great 



50 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

pipe made of pottery, formerly used to carry water 
into the palace. He stayed there till after dark, 
when he could escape without being seen, and found 
safety in a cottage belonging to an old subject loyal 
to his father's name. A price was set upon his head, 
and a reward offered to him who should take him 
dead or alive, in the shape of a marriage with some 
lady of birth and broad possessions. This bride 
never came to her wedding, for the prince was not 
found. Too many faithful vassals watched over him, 
in spite of the temptation of such a brilliant match ; 
they hid him under heaps of magueys, and furnished 
him with every means of escape. They turned their 
heads away when they saw him pass, lest they should 
be forced to betray the J^nowledge ; they put food 
for him in places where he might steal forth and find 
it. They hid him once in a large thing like a drum, 
around which they were dancing as if to amuse them- 
selves. In fact, no one would give him up ; the 
whole population connived to protect him and hide 
him from his half-hearted pursuers, forced to the 
task by their sovereign. It was a poor sort of life 
he led, and his own sufferings were increased by his 
tender heart for the difificulties these caused his loyal 
protectors. 

Most of the chiefs of the regions round about 
were, from policy, allied to the usurper, but the de- 
throned prince had friends, and the party on his 
side grew large as the tyranny of Maxtla and his op- 
pressions caused defections among his followers. 
When the time came for a general rising, Nezahual- 
coyotl found himself at the head of a courageous 



NEZAHUALCOYOTL, THE HUNGRY FOX. 5t 

band which gained in size and strength, until it 
seemed safe to attack the regular forces of Maxtla. 
In the battle which took place the tyrant was 
routed, and the true prince triumphant. As soon as 
this was known all the chiefs flocked to do him 
homage, and he entered his capital in triumph, 
crossing to the sound of military music the spot 
where he had passed an evening under a drum, and 
entering by the royal gates the palace he had left 
through a water-pipe. Horses were not known in 
Anahuac until after the advent of the Conquista- 
dores. The young victor was borne in a sort of 
palanquin by four of the chief nobles of the kingdom. 

Thus did Nezahualcoyotl return to the throne of 
his fathers. The Mexicans, who had helped his 
former enemies to overthrow the rule of his father, 
now joined forces with him, abandoning without 
hesitation Maxtla, whose oppression and exaction 
made him an uncomfortable ally. A league of the 
other neighboring tribes, combining with the Mexi- 
cans, under the lead of the true prince of Texcuco, 
utterly routed the forces of Maxtla, and this tyrant 
who himself assassinated the father was slain by the 
hand of the son. 

Maxtla was killed in 1428. The usurpation of 
the throne of the Chichimecs by Tezozomoc first, 
and afterwards by Maxtla, his son, had lasted ten 
years. By this event the kingdom of Atzcapotzalco 
came to an end, having lasted not more than two 
hundred and sixty years. 

The kingdom which Nezahualcoyotl regained 
from the usurpers, whose kings traced their lineage 



52 



7 HE STORY OF MEXICO. 



back to the Chichimec Xolotl (Eye of great 
Vigilance), now became the kingdom of Texcuco 
Aculhuacan, by which it was known when Cort6s, 
with his conquering legions, appeared on the plains 
of Anahuac. 





VI. 



TEXCUCO. 



Now followed the Golden Age of Texcuco. The 
Fox, no longer hungry nor hunted, proved himself a 
very Lion, a King of Beasts; he ruled his kingdom 
with wisdom, as he had fought with bravery, and 
endured adversity with patience. 

On coming to the throne, he proclaimed a general 
amnesty, pardoned the rebels, and even gave some 
of them posts of honor. He repaired the ruin 
wrought by the usurper, and revived what was worth 
revival in the old form of government. He made a 
code of laws well suited to the demands of his time, 
which was written in blood. It was accepted by 
the two other powers with whom he now entered 
into alliances, Mexico and Tlacopan. His adjust- 
ment of the different departments of government 
was remarkable for the time, or indeed for any time, 
providing councils for every emergency ; of these 
the most peculiar was the Council of Music, de- 
voted to the interests of all arts and science. Its 
members were selected from the best instructed 
persons of the kingdom, without much reference to 
their ranks. They had the supervision of all works 
of art, all writings, pictorial or hieroglyphic, and had 

53 



54 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

an eye on all professors to keep them up to their 
work. This Council of Music had sessions when it 
listened to poems and historical compositions recited 
by their authors, who received prizes according to 
the merit of their work. 

The literary men of Texcuco became celebrated 
throughout the country, and its archives were pre- 
served with the greatest care in the palace. These 
records, which would have told us all we want to 
know of the early story of the people of Anahuac, 
were, for the most part, inscribed upon a fine fabric, 
made of the leaves of the American aloe, the maguey 
which also gave them their favorite beverage. The 
sheets made from it were something like the Egyp- 
tian papyrus, and furnished a smooth surface like 
parchment, upon which the picture-writings were 
laid in the most brilliant tints. These manuscripts 
were done up in rolls sometimes, but were often 
folded like a screen, and enclosed in wooden covers, 
not very unlike our books. Quantities of such 
manuscripts were stored up in the countr}^, not only 
by the Texcucans, but by all the inhabitants of the 
different kingdoms. Probably no race has made 
better provision for handing down its traditions and 
history than these people who wandered from the 
mysterious North. All this is lost to us by the in- 
fatuation of the Spanish Conquistadores, as we shall 
see later on. 

As if barbarians, ignorant of types and bindings, 
should descend upon the British Museum or Biblio- 
teque Nationale, and, perceiving therein countless 
parallelograms of calf containing wicked little dots 



TEXCUCO. . 5 5 

upon countless white leaves, should order them to 
be destroyed, as foolishness or blasphemy. So the 
first priests of the Christian religion arriving in New 
Spain destroyed these playthings of the idolaters, 
which they conceived to be probably precious, but 
at all events useless. 

Only chance specimens of these wonderful pic- 
ture-writings escaped the general destruction, and 
from which is gleaned whatever is surmised of the 
earliest life of the tribes of Anahuac. 

Texcuco led all the other nations in its literary 
culture, or rather pictorial skill, since letters were 
unknown. The Texcucan idiom was the purest of 
all the many dialects from the Nahuatl root. 
Among its poets, the king himself, Nezahualcoyotl, 
was distinguished. He not only belonged to the 
Council of Music, but appeared before it with other 
competitors. Perhaps some folded screen enclosing 
an ode by his hand lies hidden yet somewhere in 
Mexico, or even among the dusty archives of Old 
Spain. Some few have come to light, and one 
of them exists in Spanish, translated by a Mexi- 
can. It is hard to be sure of the import of 
the original through the change of expression in- 
evitable in translating, but we may guess something 
of it. 

"Rejoice," he says, " O Nezahualcoyotl, in the 
enjoyable, which now you grasp. With the flowers 
of this lovely garden crown thy illustrious brows, 
and draw pleasure from those things from which 
pleasure is to be drawn." 

This garden of the no longer hungry Fox was a 



$6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

wonderful Place of Delights, and the remains of it 
may be seen to this day. About three miles from 
the capital rises the Laughing Hill of Tezcot- 
zinco. Here are left the remains of terraced 
walls, and stairways wind around the hill from the 
bottom to the top. In shady nooks among the rocks 
seats are hollowed out of the stone, and ingenious 
contrivances can be traced on all sides for enhancing 
the natural advantages of the situation. The most 
curious of all the vestiges of Nezahualcoyotl's gar- 
den is a round reservoir for water at an elevation of 
eighty or one hundred feet. It is about five feet 
across and three feet deep. Channels led from it in 
all directions to water and refresh the terrace-gar- 
dens below. 

The country all about is full of artificial embank- 
ments, reservoirs and aqueducts for leading water 
about, and developing the attractions of the place. 
A magnificent grove of lofty ahuehuetes, at some 
distance from the central part of the grounds, sur- 
rounds a large quadrangle, now dry, which was prob- 
ably an artificial lake in the time of the great king, 
for whose pleasure these things were planned. He 
was rich enough to pay for all the costly works he 
commanded, by reason of successful wars and judi- 
cious management of domestic industry, and so was 
justified in indulging his taste for magnificence in 
architecture. The ruins of Tezcotzinco faintly at- 
test the truth of the descriptions of this royal resi- 
dence, which tell of hanging gardens approached by 
steps of porphyry, reservoirs sculptured with the 
achievements of the monarch, and adorned with mar- 



TEXCUCO, 57 

ble statues. There stood a lion of solid stone more 
than twelve feet long, with wings and feathers 
carved upon them. He was placed to face the east, 
and in his mouth he held a stone face, which was the 
very likeness of the king himself. This was his 
favorite portrait, although many other representa- 
tions of him had been made in gold, wood, or 
featherwork. On the summit of the hill was the 
carved representation of a coyotl, the hungry fox 
which gave to the monarch his name so tedious to 
us to pronounce. 

The remains of Tezcotzinco are now shown as the 
•Baths of Montezuma; but this is a purely modern 
application of the title of a chief more commonly 
known. The baths belonged to Nezahualcoyotl, 
and if by chance any Montezuma made use of them, 
it was only as a passing guest. 

Nezahualcoyotl, this wise, good, aesthetic king, 
committed a deed which his descendant and histor- 
ian regards as a great blot upon his fame. He 
remained unmarried for a long time, on account of 
an early disappointment in love, and was no longer 
young when he conceived a violent passion for a noble 
maiden whom he met at the house of one of his 
vassals. This vassal wished the fair lady for his own 
bride ; he had in fact brought her up with that in- 
tent, but the king, regardless of the laws of honor, 
caused the old man to be killed by his own men in a 
battle with the Tlaxcallans, which he set on foot chief- 
ly for this purpose. The young princess was then 
invited to the royal palace, where she received in due 
form and time an offer of marriasfe from the monarch. 



58 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The wedding was celebrated with great pomp, not 
long after the funeral of the vassal. 

This is the only anecdote that reflects discredit 
on the monarch, and there are many which tell to 
his advantage. It was his custom, as with the East- 
ern Khalif, to go about in disguise among his people 
to find out their wants in order to alleviate them. 

One day as he was walking through a field with one 
of his friends he met a small boy picking up sticks 
here and there. " There are many more in the forest 
yonder," he said ; " why do not you go there to get 
them? " 

"The forest belongs to the king," said the boy, 
" and it would be worth my life to take his property." 

The king advised him to disregard the law and go 
and take what wood he wanted, as nobody would 
find him out, but the boy was too honest or too cau- 
tious to follow the advice, and steadily went a glean- 
ing as he could in the open field. 

When the king returned to the palace he sent for 
the boy and his parents. The parents were praised 
for bringing up such a boy, the boy was praised and 
rewarded, and the king passed a law allowing unlimi- 
ted picking up chips. 

In short, Nezahualcoyotl was a model monarch. 
He pardoned all his enemies, was humane and clem- 
ent ; he formed a code of wise and just laws, and 
instituted tribunals for the prompt administration of 
justice; he established schools and academies for the 
diffusion of all sorts of knowledge, and generously 
encouraged science and art. As for his religious 
belief, he abjured the barbarous creed which pre- 



TEXCUCO. 



59 

vailed at the time, and announced his conviction of 
the existence of one God, author of the universe. 
He erected a superb temple to this deity, and com- 
posed hymns in his praise. 

Nezahualcoyotl died in 1472. It was nearly half 
a century since he had rescued his throne from the 
usurper. He had raised his kingdom from the anarchy 
in which he found it to a brilliant station, and saw it, 
at the close of his life, growing stronger and going 
farther in the path of advanced civilization. He had 
brought this about by his wise and judicious rule 
and might well contemplate with satisfaction the 
results of his wisdom and judgment. 

His only legitimate son was about eight years old 
at the time of his father's death. His name was 
Nezahualpilli. He became as learned as his father, 
was liberal and charitable ; even more severe in the 
administration of justice, going so far as to condemn 
to death two of his own sons who bad infringed the 
law. In his time he was held to be the wisest mon- 
arch of the epoch, and amongst his subjects he had 
moreover the reputation of being a magician. 

He reigned forty-four years, and died in 15 16, 
leaving the kingdom to the oldest of his four legiti- 
mate sons. 

The reign of Nezahualcoyotl is the most glorious 
period of the kingdom of Texcuco, and of all the 
kingdoms of Anahuac. 

Its splendors have been confounded with those 
of the Aztec Court, and, as we see in the names now 
given to the ruins of the king's garden, even the 
name of the Montezumas is mixed up with the Tex- 



6o THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

cucan annals. It is well, however, to keep the 
different dynasties distinct, in order to understand, 
when wc come to the Conquest, the various parts 
these distinct peoples played in that exciting drama. 

Texcuco maintained for some time its place and 
distinction, but never surpassed the height it reached 
in the fifteenth century. After that it began to 
diminish ; family dissensions in the royal house, and 
external warfare, together with too much prosperity 
and the relaxation that comes with it, were preparing 
this nation for the tempest and change already 
gathering afar off. 

This glowing account of the splendors of Texcuco 
is gathered by Prescott from the writings of Fer- 
nando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, who traced his descent, 
in direct line, from the royal house of Texcuco. He 
lived in the sixteenth century, occupying the position 
of interpreter to the Viceroy, beingfamiliar with the 
Indian dialects, and of course with the Spanish 
language. 

He w^as in other respects a man of cultivation 
and learning, had a library of his own, and pursued 
diligently the study of the picture-writings, hiero- 
glyphics, and legends of his ancestors, with the 
object of throwing light on the obscure places of 
their story. He wrote, in Spanish, various books 
about the primitive races of Anahuac, among them 
the " Historia Chichimeca," which has been used as a 
source of authority since it was first written. 

As a Christian, Ixtlilxochitl has given to the 
legends of the Quetzalcoatl and other mysteries of 
the early Mexican races, a color evidently borrowed 
from the light of Christian traditions, and the author 



TEXCUCO. 6 1 

has cast over his picture of the Golden Age a 
glow which is hardly justified by the cold light of 
modern research. His story is now regarded as 
unreliable in many particulars. Yet as a legend 
it retains its charm ; and as history the graceful 
fabric need not be utterly destroyed while the monu- 
ments at Texcuco and the manuscripts of Nezahual- 
coyotl attest the existence of such a king and such 
a court. Until the diligent research of those ex- 
plorers who are now busy in searching for the facts 
of early Mexican history, have fully established 
them, we may enjoy the tale of past magnificence 
upon the plateau of Anahuac. 

The period of the Golden Age of Texcuco is as- 
cribed to the fifteenth century; the date assigned 
to Nezahualcoyotl's accession being 1430. The 
Spanish invasion took place in 15 16 A.D. 

During that century the red rose of Lancaster 
was warring with the white rose of York ; Joan of 
Arc, in France, grew up in her village home, to win 
back for the French king his lost provinces. Isa- 
bella and Ferdinand, by uniting the two houses of 
Castile and Aragon, made Spain the powerful king- 
dom, which was to discover the New World. 

All these princes and potentates, busy with their 
own wars and marriages, lived their lives without 
thought of any form of high civilization across an 
untravelled ocean. Even Columbus, as he urged upon 
the queen his longing to cross that ocean to find out 
what was beyond it, did not suggest to her the 
vision of a cultivated court with a king who wrote 
poetry in an unknown tongue, and had carved lions 
upon his marble stairways, 







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^^3 



VII. 

MICHOACAN. 

West of the city of Mexico and the state of the 
same name lies Michoacan, one of the largest of the 
present divisions of the country. It begins on the 
plateau, but stretches down the steep western slope 
to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, seamed with 
deep barrancas between the upper and the lower 
portions, so steep and impassable that the railway 
which is already engineered to connect the capital 
with Colima on the western coast, waits long to 
gather courage for the leap. On the higher land 
mountain-peaks divide fertile lofty valleys, in which 
large lakes sparkle in the soft light of the climate. 
Michoacan signifies in Tarascan Land of Fish. 
These broad sheets of water are even now as still 
and lonely as when the early wanderers from the 
unknown North settled upon their borders, except 
when the shriek of a modern steam-engine disturbs 
their silence, and frightens the many birds who live 
there. As the train passes along the edge of Lake 
Cuitzao, eighteen miles long, clouds of winged crea- 
tures start up surprised, but not much frightened 
from the rushes by the water. Perhaps a rose-col- 
ored flamingo may be seen standing on one leg, 

62 



MICHOACAN. 



63 



undisturbed by the noise, because he is unaccus- 
tomed to fear. Across the lake glows a brilliant 
scarlet behind graceful mountain outlines. By the 
many curves of the road these forms appear, vanish, 
and recur, till the day has faded. 




VASE IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON. 

Farther from the capital, Patzcuaro and its lake 
have hidden their charms still longer. It was only 
in 1886 that the railroad penetrated to them. They 
are nearer the middle of the upper part of Micho- 
acan, at an elevation of seven thousand feet above 



64 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the sea. The heights in this region, though they 
seem hills, because their base is on so high a level, 
attain to numbers of measurement belonging to 
mountains. The Place of Delights, as the name of 
Patzcuaro is translated from the Tarascan language 
of its old inhabitants, is a lonely little city now, con- 
taining no more than eight thousand natives, many 
of whom are descended from the first inhabitants, 
and speak the Tarascan tongue. The town is built 
on hilly broken ground, with narrow crooked streets, 
from which glimpses are constantly to be had of 
the beautiful lake stretching out below. Abundant 
springs water the town and flow through the fountains 
in the market-place, an open square surrounded by 
noble ash-trees. Just outside the town stone seats 
have been placed at a point overlooking a lovely 
view of the clustering town, the long irregular lake 
with jutting points clothed throughout the year 
with verdure, and dotting islands upon its surface. 

This place of delights was long the seat of the 
native chiefs of Michoacan, who, though they did 
not attain such a reputation for learning and culti- 
vation as Ixtlilxochitl the Texcucan narrator has 
given his ancestors, had yet taste and intelligence 
enough to enjoy the beauty of their home. 

In the beginning, wandering tribes may have set- 
tled on the borders of the lake for the mere casual 
advantages of satisfying their hunger, for the lake 
abounds with fish, and feathered game frequent its 
shores from time immemorial. The first have been 
supposed to be Chichimecs, either before or after 
their dealings with the Toltecs. The region was 



MICHOACAN. 65 

too attractive for one tribe to possess it unmolested. 
Other men, perhaps fresh from the same mysterious 
North, perhaps driven out by force or discontent 
from former homes upon Anahuac, came to dispute 
the fruitful territory. Such contests were decided by 
the triumph of the stronger ; intermarriages healed 
the wound, and brief peace settled on the shore of 
the lake, to be broken by and by with similar in- 
cursions, followed by similar results. Out of such 
sequence, a name and date emerge as pegs to hang 
some facts on, in the hitherto accepted story. 

Ire-Titatacame was this first chief of this first people 
with a name which could last. He made friends 
with a neighboring chief, and married his daughter, 
the Princess of Naranjan. We may imagine her, 
like her remote descendants, a dusky maiden, rather 
small, with straight black hair, which she knew how 
to braid in two long tresses to hang along her back. 
Did her grandmother learn the art from the same 
coiffeur that prepared the mother of Ramses for her 
morning care ? Her eyes were intelligent, piercing, 
but soft, two rows of brilliant white teeth lighted 
her face when she smiled, as she gathered herself pop- 
pies for a wreath on the borders of the Lake of De- 
lights. 

This princess became the mother of Sicuiracha, 
who was born in 1202, they say, about the time 
that the little English prince, Arthur, was being mur- 
dered at Rouen by the order of his wicked uncle. 
The little prince of Naranjan-Chichimeca was not 
ten years old when a tribe of Tarascans assaulted his 
father's city, and slew that monarch. He grew 



66 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

up to console his mother, avenge the deed, and to 
control his own subjects and the conquered tribe, 
which however impressed its language and dialect 
upon the nation, so that in that region, Tarascan 
survived. 

Sicuiracha lived to a good old age, and in peace. 
He died at the close of the thirteenth century, leav- 
ing two sons. 

One of these married an island woman of the lake, 
and her son preserved the royal line ; for his father 
and uncle were put to death by a chieftain of the 
neighborhood who desired the fair Place of Delights 
for his own. But Tixiacuri was hidden by priests, 
who taught him the great art of war, so that in due 
time he came forth at the head of armies, destroyed 
his enemies, took to himself all the territory of the 
king who slew his father, and extended his own 
even beyond these, thus first really governing the 
wide kingdom of Michoacan, which goes down to 
the sea. 

Tixiacuri, at his death, divided the territory, giv- 
ing parts of it to two nephews, one of whom, Hicux- 
axe, got Patzcuaro, and called himself king of it. 
Tangoxoan, the son of the late king summoned his 
court to Tzintzuntzan, fifteen miles up the lake. He 
is counted the fifth of the chiefs of Michoacan, and 
leaves no other record but that all his sons died 
violent deaths. 

In the next period the provinces given to Tixia- 
curi's nephews came together again under one head, 
and the tribes thus united grew and prospered. 
Zovanga, the seventh ruler, held sway over the whole 



MICHOACAN. 67 

extent of Michoacan. Its capital was Tzintzuntzan, 
and its fullest limit touched the waters of the 
western ocean. This king constructed the cele- 
brated walls of Michoacan to shut in his terri- 
tories ; he advanced agriculture, and brought his 
army to such excellence that it triumphed over 
his enemies, even the Mexicans, who, by this 
time powerful rivals, undertook an expedition into 
Michoacan in 148 1. In a bloody battle which 
lasted two whole days the Mexicans were utterly 
routed. 

The reign of Zovanga is described as long and 
glorious, and he left his country in a state of peace 
and prosperity when he died, near the beginning of 
the sixteenth century. The eighth and last Taras- 
can monarch of Michoacan, Tangoxoan II., was 
the contemporary of Montezuma ; like him, un- 
fortunate enough to live to see the invasion of the 
Conquistadores. He was called by them Calzonzi, 
which is only the Tarascan word for any chief or 
leader. 

His capital was at Tzintzuntzan, a city with a 
population of forty thousand inhabitants, it is said, 
at the time of the conquest. Its name is an imita- 
tion of the noise of humming birds, which, in the 
Tarascan days, as now, darted in multitudes over the 
gay flowers that border the lake in profusion. This 
people loved birds as they did flowers, and excelled 
in the delicate feather-work still practised in Mexico, 
in which bright-colored plumage is daintily made to 
serve instead of paints. The monarch of Michoacan 
held court at Tzintzuntzan, but his pleasure-house 



68 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

was at Patzcuaro, eighteen miles away. Legend says 
that when he chose to have a collation there, a line 
of servants was stationed all along the way between 
the two palaces, to pass the dishes from the royal 
kitchen to the royal table. However this may be, 
there are traces of a subterranean passage which per- 
haps connected the capital with the other town. 
Some years ago an excavation was attempted at 
Tzintzuntzan, with the hope of discovering this 
passage, but the natives quietly resisted this work 
by always filling up the place as soon as it was dug 
out. From generation to generation these people 
transmit the traditions of the ancient grandeur of 
their race, and silently preserve what they can of its 
traces. They have no written language of their 
own, and no orators. What they know of the past 
they do not wish to tell to outsiders ; but their vil- 
lages are full of legends, which the old people hand 
down to the younger ones in their strange Tarascan 
speech. They are tenacious of their manners and 
customs, and preserve in their church festivals the 
forms and rites which the early priests allowed them 
to transfer from their old religion to the ceremonials 
of the newly acquired Catholic faith. The Taras- 
cans are skilful in carving in bone. They make tiny 
boxes, neatly fitted with lock and key, of wood. 
Their canoes are dug out of tree-trunks, and they 
kill the wild fowl which swarm and herd in quantities 
upon their lake, with a long wooden javelin hurled 
with skill. Their pottery, like that of all the Mexi- 
cans, is simple in design, graceful in form, and taste- 
ful in color. From time immemorial they have 



MICHOACAN. 



69 



possessed the knowledge of handling clay and 
making their utensils of it. 

Such are the descendants of the old Tarascan 
tribes, little changed as yet by the changes of gov- 
ernment that have swept over their country since 
the invasion of the Conquistadores. 




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VIII. 

MAYAS. 

Theee is another race of which something must be 
said before we begin upon the Aztecs, that branch of 
the Nahuatl family which took the leading part in 
the struggle with the Conquistadores. 

Although the Mayan civilization was established 
outside the limits of the present Mexico, it is neces- 
sary to know something of it in connection with the 
other tribes who built up the civilization of Ana- 
huac. 

The Mayas are thought to have been the earliest 
of the Nahuatl family to migrate from their northern 
home. Their language differs from the other Nahua 
dialects, and so do their traditions, monuments, and 
hieroglyphics, but these differences were probably 
caused by the difference in time in the departure of 
these races from their common starting-point. The 
resemblance outweighs the disparity, and we can 
only imagine that the deviations were caused by a 
long separation from the original stock. Their 
descendants live in Yucatan, and the early monu- 
ments of the Mayas are found in that country and 
its neighborhood. 

They are supposed to have migrated from the 
70 



MAYAS. 



71 



shores of the Atlantic to the region now the state 
of Chiapas, the farthest • south of all the states, ad- 
joining Guatemala, in the midst of a rich and fertile 
country. Their empire grew to be one of great im- 




CASA DEL GOBERNADOR, UXMAL. 



portance, so that at one time even the proud Tula 
was tributary to it. It extended over the greater 
part of Central America. Mayapan and Copan were 
the other chief tribes of their confederacy, of which 



72 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Nachan, or Town of Serpents, was the capital or 
chief. 

This great city was already in ruins, buried in the 
thick wilderness, its site and very existence forgot- 
ten before the arrival of the Conquistadores. Cortes 
must have marched close to it once when he was on 
his way to Honduras, but he probably had no notion 
of its existence. The ruins were discovered by chance 
in the middle of the eighteenth century, by a curate 
of the little town Palenque in the neighborhood. 

In 1764, the Spanish government sent explorers to 
visit these ruins, and since then they have been care- 
fully studied. The importance and extent of the 
buildings seem to show that the ancient city was 
once the capital and centre of the ancient state of 
Mayapan. Traces of streets extend for a length of 
six leagues or more, following the course of moun- 
tain streams, which doubtless furnished the inhabi- 
tants with water. 

The most important building at Palenque is the 
Palace. It rests on a truncated pyramid about fifty 
feet high, of which tlie base measures three hundred 
and ten feet by two hundred and sixty. Subter- 
ranean galleries penetrated the interior of the pyra- 
mid. It is made of earth, with external faces of large 
slabs ; steps lead up to the top, on which is the chief 
building, a quadrilateral of two hundred and twenty- 
eight feet by one hundred and eighty ; the walls are 
from two to three feet thick, ornamented with a frieze 
between two double cornices, covered with painted 
stucco, either red, blue, black, or white. There are 
fourteen entrances in the eastern front, which is the 



MA YAS. 



73 



principal one, separated by 
pillars ornamented with 
figures more than six feet 
in height. Over their heads 
are hieroglyphics which 
contain the key to their 
meaning, still hidden to us. 

The inside of the palace 
corresponds with the out- 
side, galleries run all round 
the court, and the lofty 
chambers are decorated 
with strange bas-reliefs in 
granite thirteen feet high 
or more, strange and gro- 
tesque to us, but full of 
meaning and expression 
to the race which under- 
stood them. 

Over the palace rises a 
tower of three stories, thir- 
ty feet square at the base, 
decorated profusely with 
symbols no longer sug- 
gestive. A strange thing 
about the palace is that 
the staircases look new, 
the steps whole and un- 
worn, as if the people who 
built it had suddenly taken 
flight soon after they erect- 
ed their chief buildings. 




STATUE FROM PALENQUE. 



74. THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

One other of the monuments of Palenque should 
be mentioned, the Temple of the Cross. It rises 
from a truncated pyramid, and forms a quadrilateral 
separated by pilasters, ornamented with hieroglyphics 
and human figures. The openings lead through an 
inside gallery to three little rooms, of which the mid- 
dle one contains an altar, ornamented with a frieze. 
Above this altar until recently stood three marble 
slabs, of which one is now in the Smithsonian Insti- 
tute at Washington, the central stone at the National 
Museum in the city of Mexico, and the third still 
remains at Palenque. They are six feet four inches 
in height, four feet wide, and six inches thick, of 
cream-colored stone of a fine grain. The central 
stone now in Mexico gives a striking representation 
of the Christian cross on a pedestal in the midst of a 
tangle of hieroglyphics, with a priestly figure, nearly 
life size, which in the stone still at Palenque is con- 
tinued by another figure of a priest and six rows of 
hieroglyphics running from top to bottom. The 
piece at Washington is covered with similar rows of 
hieroglyphics, and contains ornaments to match the 
human figure on the left of the central stone. The 
startling resemblance to a cross on this tablet has 
excited much discussion ; it is said that the presence 
of the emblem of the Christian faith caused it to be 
torn down and cast forth into the forest, which 
crowds around the ruins of the ancient city. But 
such representations of the symbol of an earlier date 
than the Christian era, have been found elsewhere 
in America. The cross was looked upon by the 
Mayas as the sign of the creative and fertilizing 



MA YAS. 



n 



powers of nature, and has no affinity with the Chris- 
tian one. Some attempts have been made to deci- 
pher the meaning of the Palenque tablets, consider- 




TABLET OF CROSS AT PALENQUE. 



irig the three pieces as a whole. The figure on the 
left (still at Palenque) is said to be the Sun with his 
grand mitre. He presents an offering in his hand, 



^6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

and appears to be blowing with his mouth or breath- 
ing incense. At his back are two astronomical signs, 
representing, one the four phases of the moon, and 
the other the great Period of the Sun. The figure at 
the right (in the museum at Mexico) is larger than 
the other. It stands erect with outstretched arms 
offering a child before the cross. This priest differs 
from the other in being without the sacred mask and 
the robe of ocelotl skin. Both figures open their lips 
in prayer to the deity, the cross, here united with 
the sign Acatl, an arrow thrust through the upper 
half making another smaller cross. At the right of 
the cross are the signs of the four seasons of the 
year, vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumnal 
equinox, and winter solstice. The bird above the 
cross is the star of the morning, and the strange fig- 
ure below may be a skull, to represent the star of the 
evening. According to this explanation the famous 
tablet of Palenque, with its accidental likeness to 
the Christian cross, was dedicated to the Sun as the 
great creative power, and to the Year with its four 
seasons, and change of morning and evening. Pa- 
lenque is by no means the only monument of the 
ancient people in this region. Yucatan is covered 
with interesting ruins, the remains of different 
branches of the mighty Mayan race. It can hardly 
be doubted, moreover, that extensive ruins lie yet 
hidden in the unexplored regions of the peninsula. 
Chichen-Itza is one of the few towns which has pre- 
served its ancient Mayan name, from chicken, open- 
ing of a well, and Itza, one of the chief branches of 
Mayapan confederacy. Itza maintained its inde- 



MaVas. 



77 



pendence, after the destruction of the confederacy, 
for two centuries after the Conquest. It was then 
taken by the Spaniards and completely destroyed. 

Over an extent of several miles are seen masses of 
rubbish, broken sculptures, overturned columns, of 
which nearly five hundred bases have been counted. 
Chichen was one of the religious centres of Yuca- 




MAYAN BAS-RELIEF. 



tan, which accounts for the number and mag- 
nificence of its temples. The walls, in many cases, 
are covered with paintings, in black, red, yellow, and 
white ; they represent processions of warriors or 
priests, with black heads, strange head-dresses, and 
wide tunics on their shoulders. The faces on the 
bas-reliefs are remarkable as giving a different type 



78 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

from the pointed heads and retreating foreheads 
of those at Palenque. The heads on the Yucatan 
monuments as those of the present inhabitants are 
better developed. The sculpture is rich ; the bas- 
reliefs give an idea of the head-dress of the natives. 

A flight of steps is ornamented with a balustrade 
of interlaced serpents. 

Chaak Mool, also known under the name of Balam, 
the tiger-chief, was one of three brothers who shared 
between them the government of Yucatan. He was 
married to Kinich Katmo, a woman of marvellous 
beauty. 

Now Aak, the brother of Chaak Mool, fell in love 
with the fair Kinich, the wife of his brother. In 
order to possess her, he caused her husband to be as- 
sassinated, hoping thus to win the hand of the widow. 
But Kinich, far from yielding to the persuasions of 
Aak, remained faithful to the memory of Chaak, and 
out of conjugal devotion caused his statue to be 
made. Moreover she caused her palace to be adorned 
with paintings representing the chief events in the 
life of her departed spouse, and the sad scene of his 
death. In one of these paintings we may see the 
wicked Aak, holding in his hand three spears, to 
symbolize the three wounds, by means of which his 
brother was despatched. 

The painting is accompanied by hieroglyphics, 
which an explorer in 1875, Dr. Le Plongeon, suc- 
ceeded in deciphering far enough to learn that the 
tomb of Chaak Mool was to be found at a place some 
four hundred yards from the palace. He at once 
set about excavations at this spot. At first were 



MAYAS. 



79 



found several bas-reliefs representing cats and birds 
of prey; about twenty feet lower down was an urn 
of stone containing ashes, and last of all the statue 
of a man reclining upon a slab of stone. This statue 
is now in the National Museum of Mexico, under 
the title of Chaak Mool, as if it were the image made 
by order of the devoted Kinich Katmo ; but the 
type of the face, the costume, head-dress, and sandals 




STATUE OF CHAAK MOOL. 



are altogether different from the usual Yucatan 
models, and moreover other little Chaak Mools have 
been found in different parts of Mexico, so that the 
wise are led to suppose that it represents some un- 
know divinity rather than a king of Yucatan. 

The Spaniards found throughout Yucatan roads 
made for the convenience of travellers, probably to 
the religious centres of the country. Some of these 



8o THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

roads are calzadas, like those of which traces exist 
in many parts of Mexico, dating far beyond the 
Spaniards. The remains of one of these were used in 
building the modern city of Merida in Yucatan. 
This highway measured from between seven and 
eight yards in width ; it was made of blocks of stone 
covered with mortar, and a layer of cement about 
two inches thick. Solid bridges of masonry spanned 
the rivers of Mexico and Yucatan, of which the 
massive piers have been seen standing during the last 
century. 

Such are the monuments of the Mayan people, 
of whom not many facts are to be disentangled 
from the early legends. Like the traditions of the 
Mexican tribes, the Mayas tell of a supernatural 
being, who came from the other side of the Carib- 
bean seas, from a land of shadows. His name was 
Votan, in the Mayan tradition. Pie found a people 
in the extreme of barbarism living in caves, feeding 
upon the bloody flesh of animals they killed in 
hunting; he taught them many things, so that by 
his example, and for generations after he left them 
by his precepts, they advanced to high civilization. 
According to his instructions, the only sacrifices 
offered to the gods were the flowers and incense, 
sometimes birds and animals. Votan is described 
as a great warrior, leading his people to one triumph 
after another. Votan, it would seem, had a com- 
panion and disciple called Zamna, to whom also the 
inhabitants of Yucatan ascribe their ancient prog- 
ress. It was he, they say, who invented hieroglyphics, 
and he was the first to attach names to men and 



MAYAS. Si 

things. He was buried, according to the account of 
the natives, at Izamal, one of the sacred towns of 
Yucatan, beneath three different pyramids. Under 
one is his right hand, the head under another, and 
the heart is beneath the third. A huge head carved 
in stone has been found at Izamal, which perhaps 
represents the Prophet Zamna. 




The Mayas used copper and gold. Their weap- 
ons were slings, spears, and arrows with points 
made of obsidian or bone. Their warriors wore 
armor of well-padded cotten, their shields were 
round and decorated with feathers, or the skins of 
animals. They made boats by hollowing out the 
trunks of trees, large enough to hold fifty people, 
which they guided with great skill. Votan was re- 



82 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

garded as a god after his death, like Quetzalcoatl, 
with the Toltecs. Fierce wars waged between vo- 
taries of the two as time went on. The Mayan 
legends and the few manuscripts preserved tell of 
nothing but wars and conquests, struggles and de- 
feats. The confederation invaded by other tribes 
who triumphed over it declined. Their religion de- 
teriorated, as the traditions of Votan and his pre- 
cepts faded away, and the people returned to the 
custom of human sacrifice, as bloody and terrible 
with them as with the other American races. 

In their monuments we can trace these evi- 
dences of their civilization ; they are remarkable for 
number and dimeh-sion, and the taste and skill shown 
in their ornamentation implies a condition above 
that of savage tribes warring against each other to 
defend the necessities of mere existence. 




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IX. 

AZTECS. 

We now come to the tribe best known among those 
who lived on the great plateau of Anahuac, the 
Aztecs, also called Mexicans. The latter name has 
come so generally to include the inhabitants of the 
whole countr}^, that a distinction must be made. 

This people was one of those which formed the 
great family of the Nahuas ; its emigration from the 
mysterious regions of the northeast towards Ana- 
huac, like that of the other tribes which recognize 
the same traditions, rests on the same authority. 
Their origin is no clearer than that of the rest. It 
seems certain that previous to migrating they dwelt 
in a land far to the northeast of Lake Chapala. 
This region, hallowed in their traditions with all the 
memories and all the attractions of a far-off, long- 
lost home, they called Aztlan, and from this name 
were they called Aztecs. 

Why they abandoned this delightful home is en- 
tirely unknown, except to conjecture and the proba- 
bilities of human life ; the date is equally uncertain, 
but to it has been assigned the middle of the seventh 
century, and even the year 648 of our era is given. 

The Aztecs having left their old habitations wan- 
83 



84 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

dered vaguely off towards the southwest, guided by 
the inspirations or indications of their priests. They 
paused whole years in different places, building in 
each houses and temples, of which traces are still 
found to mark their path. They left behind them, 
indeed, settlements which still exist. But the great 
body of these emigrants had not yet found a perma- 
nent resting-place. They continued to move on, 
with intervals of pause, from generation to genera- 
tion, always impelled by the restlessness which 
caused their first fathers, and the priests, their guides, 
to leave Aztlan. It was si.K hundred years after the 
date commonly given for their exodus that the 
Aztecs came to their final resting-place in 1243. 
The tribe was already called Mexicas as well as 
Aztec, because the priests received an order from 
one of their gods, Mexitli, that they should receive 
a name like his. From Mexi or Mexicas was derived 
the word Mexican. This name has attached itself, 
not only to the town they founded, but to the 
broad valley in which it lies, and to the whole coun- 
try stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; yet 
when they came there the ancient tribe of the Tol- 
tecs already possessed the land, and farther south 
the Mayas had attained a high degree of civiliza- 
tion. They themselves were but a handful of men, 
despised by surrounding races for the customs of 
their religion, even then regarded as barbarous and 
horrible by the older inhabitants. They gained and 
maintained a foothold in the place they had chosen 
against many enemies and countless difficulties, 
triumphed over all these, and established themselves 



86 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

SO firmly as to imprint a name upon the whole 
region. 

It is no wonder that the broad, lofty valley where 
they found themselves made so strong an impression 
upon them that they at once decided to adopt it ; 
though the exact spot they selected for their capital 
has been often condemned by posterity. 

They saw a vast oval of more than forty leagues' 
circumference, surrounded, like an amphitheatre, with 
a girdle of mountains. On the east rose the two 
proud volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, 
covered with perpetual snow, their sides clothed 
with forests. When the Aztecs came, one vast lake 
occupied the basin of the broad plateau, too wide to 
be called a valley, as well as too elevated, for the low- 
est part is more than six thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. 

They saw a rocky height rising above the wet soil 
near the lake, out of which were doubtless even then 
growing huge cypress-trees, aJiiieJiuetl, making a 
dense and pleasant shade ; a large spring of water 
flowed constantly from the rock. Here they stopped 
and named the place Chapultepec, which means the 
Hill of the Grasshopper. In the picture-writings of 
the Aztecs it is depicted as a small hill with a huge 
grasshopper standing all over it. 

Here the Mexicans, or Aztecs, remained for a few 
years, but their place was contested by the neighbor- 
ing tribes, who also all of them saw the merits of the 
site, and valued as much as the new-comers the 
spring of sparkling water. The Mexicans made 
themselves odious by their religious practices, and a 



AZTECS. 87 

combined array of Chichimecs and other tribes dis- 
possessed them of the Grasshopper Hill. They be- 
took themselves to a group of low islands in the 
lake, and there led a miserable existence for many 
years, covered with rags, living on such fishes and 
insects as they could lay hold of from the lake, and 
dwelling in wretched huts made out of reeds and 
rushes. They were nothing more than the slaves of 
the Tepanecs and Culhuas, surrounding tribes, and it 
is extraordinary that from such a life they roused 
themselves to any thing better. In the course of a 
battle between two of their tyrant tribes, they, the 
miserable slaves, the despised eaters of insects, gave 
such proof of unconquerable valor on the side of 
their masters, that these were terrified and gave them 
their liberty. This was nearly one hundred years 
after they had been driven from Chapultepec. They 
now shook off the yoke of their oppressors, gathered 
themselves together, and leaving the wretched island 
where they had languished so long, set forth once 
more in search of a permanent dwelling-place. 

The story has often been told of the way in which 
they fixed upon its position. The priests declared that 
their great god, Huitzilopochtli, had decreed for the 
situation of their abiding city, a nopal growing from 
a rock, upon which should be sitting an eagle with a 
snake in his beak. The nopal is one kind of cactus. 
When they suddenly came upon this very combina- 
tion of objects, the priests declared it to be the pre- 
ordained spot, and there they settled themselves 
after all the long wanderings of their race, far from 
the shadowy Aztlan. The situation is low, and too 



88 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

near the lake, which in those early days extended 
much farther than at present. It has now been made 
to subside, leaving much territory formerly under 
water spread out as barren marsh-land. Several lakes, 
divided by low lands have taken the place of the 
broad inland sea overlooked by the Mexican capital. 

Here the Mexicans built their capital city, which 
in time grew to be the centre of a great confederacy. 
They called it Tenochtitlan, which means Place of 
the Stone and the Nopal. Its name was also Mexico 
early in its history, from the old god Huitzilo- 
pochtli, who was also called Mexitli. 

Tenochtitlan covered about one fourth of the 
ground now occupied by the city of Mexico. Its 
founders divided it into four quarters or divisions, to 
which were given the names of Cuepopan, Atzacu- 
alco, Moyotla, and Zoquipan. In the centre rose the 
great teocalli dedicated to the god Huitzilopochtli. 
The cathedral of the present city of Mexico stands 
on the site of this ancient temple, but not a trace of 
the Aztec town is now visible. The names of the 
quarters above given remain in those of the suburbs 
of the modern town. 

Little by little smaller islands were united to the 
larger ones by means of stone- and earth-works. 
From a life of misery, by industry and energy the 
Mexicans advanced their condition. They devoted 
themselves to fishing and hunting, and exchanged 
the product of these labors with the neighboring 
people for wood, stone and such things as they 
wanted. 

Up to this time they had obeyed their priests, or 



AZTECS. 



89 



certain chiefs who controlled them. The last of these 
was Tenoch. 

Tfie rulers who followed have been called kings, 
their government a monarchy, their homes palaces, 
their places of worship, temples. The Conquista- 
dores described the civilization they found upon Ana- 
huac with such wealth of words, that the Halls of the 




IDOL IN TERRA-COTTA. 



Montezumas have been ever since the type of all that 
is rich and magnificent. Their realm was an empire, 
their sway was absolute, their lives were one of 
luxury and ease. 

Later investigations take away from the early 
Aztec dynasty all its splendors, one by one, until the 
poor Mexican kings have scarcely a shred of regal 
dignity left them. Even their warfare is reduced to 



90 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the pitiful raids of one savage tribe against another, 
their title of Emperor, no longer hereditary, although, 
it is admitted, kept in one family, is reduced to that 
of chief ; their capital city is a pueblo, their palaces 
as low buildings of adobe, their teocallis are mounds. 

For the sake of preserving the succession hitherto 
accepted, and to avoid confusion in the mind of the 
reader, we will continue the narration of the kings 
of Mexico, as if they still retained that title, shorn 
as it is of its rays. 

Tenoch died in 1363, thirty-eight years after the 
foundation of the city. As his name forms part of 
the word Tenochtitlan, some authorities give, as 
explanation, that the city was named after the chief, 
rather than for reason of the nopal, the eagle, and 
the snake. But the valuable legend remains, and is 
preserved on the national banner of the Mexicans 
to-day. 

Mexitzin succeeded Tenoch in command, who, as 
by this time the people had greatly grown in im- 
portance, counselled them to follow the example of 
the nations round about them, and choose a ruler 
to rule over them, after the manner of their neigh- 
bors, the Tepanecs, and those of Texcuco, across 
the lake. The proposal was favorably accepted, and 
Acamapichtli was made king — the first monarch of 
the Mexican dynasty, in Tenochtitlan, in 1376, fifty 
years after the foundation of the city. He was 
Mexican upon his father's side, Chichimec, through 
his mother's family. He was, according to the ac- 
count of his chroniclers, one of the most prudent 
and illustrious personages of his time. He mar- 



AZTECS. 91 

ried a daughter of a most noble Aculhuan, and as 
all the monarchs of the valley practised polygamy, 
allowed himself two other wives. Of one of these 
wives the son Huitzilihuitl was the immediate suc- 
cessor to the throne, and his half-brother, son of 
another wife, reigned next, named Chimalpopoca. 
A third son, born of a slave to the king, lived to 
reign'in his stead after the death of the half-brothers. 
But the father of these sons lived himself to reign 
for twenty years, if reigning it can be called, to 
keep in hand a handful of poor Indians just escaping 
from barbarism and degeneration of the lowest sort. 
Their one city was but fifty years old. They had no 
capital, no resources beyond the toil of their hands 
in fishing and hunting. They were regarded as in- 
terlopers by the petty kingdoms which surrounded 
them, and their lives were made miserable by the 
tyranny of any one of their neighbors who felt him- 
self strong enough to exact tribute. Yet some great 
vital force was in them to hold them together and 
bring them increase. 

Their belief in their old god, Huitzilopochtli, was 
strong as ever ; probably their fortunes rose and fell 
with the intelligence or the lack of it in the priests 
who transmitted to the people the will of this deity. 
Through them it was decreed that the tribute de- 
manded by the Tepanecs should be paid. These 
neighbors were pacified, and the Mexicans could go 
on unmolested in their work of improving their city, 
which they did by building temples and houses, and 
cutting canals through their island that the water of 
the lake might circulate freely. 



92 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

In the next reign, Huitzilihuitl, son of the first 
king, not only followed but improved upon the ex- 
ample of his father in marrying a daughter of some 
rival monarch. He sent ambassadors to various 
courts asking the hand of each princess in marriage. 
The result was good. By marrying a daughter of 
the king of the Tepanecs he relieved his people of 
the heavy tribute they had been forced to pay. His 
other wife, Cuauhnahuac, brought with her the 
knowledge of cotton for making wearing apparel, for 
the district she came from produced it in abundance, 
and her people understood the use of it. It is due 
to her, therefore, that the Mexicans became well 
clothed. Specimens of the wearing of their early 
times are preserved in the National Museum at 
Mexico. Her son was the famous Motecuhzoma 
Ilhuicamina, better known to us as Montezuma I. 
This king, who married the Princess of Cloth, greatly 
advanced his nation. He compiled laws, regulated 
religious ceremonies, systematized the army, with 
his brother at its head, thus establishing a custom 
which was always afterwards followed, that a brother 
of the monarch should be general-in-chief. In his 
day canoas, hollowed from trunks of trees, were put 
into general use for war as well as for trafific. The 
system thus introduced made his army a valuable 
accession to his neighbors when they went to battle. 
By the service they rendered to the Aculhuans in 
such a case, the Mexicans gained a high reputation 
as dangerous warriors. They were still tributary to 
the Tepanecs of Atzcapotzalco, then in the hands of 
the tyrant Maxtla, whom careful readers will remem- 




CANAL OUTSIDE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 



93 



94 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ber. This usurper, jealous of the growing power of 
his vassal, and afraid of its results, caused the death 
of the little son and daughter of the Mexican mon- 
arch. " The king, Huitzilihuitl," says the authority, 
" dissimulated this cruel offence, considering that 
this was no time to expose his people to open war 
with the Tepanecs, thus giving proof of a patriotism 
equal to personal sacrifice." 

This was however not the end of the matter for 
after the death of his father, Chimalpopoca, who 
reigned in his stead became implicated in a con- 
spiracy against Maxtla. It was discovered, and the 
punishment that the young king had to endure was to 
assume certain garments of the style worn by women 
sent him by Maxtla, as signs of. effeminacy and cow- 
ardice, while Maxtla carried off and took to himself 
one of his wives. Chimalpopoca, waited to avenge 
these insults, and life being insupportable to him, 
resolved to sacrifice himself to the great god of his 
fathers, Huitzilopochtli ; but Maxtla anticipated his 
intention, and seizing him, shut him up in a wooden 
case, such as was used for common criminals. The 
Mexican king, however, succeeded in his intent, by 
hanging himself from a bar of his disgraceful prison. 

This chief had reigned but ten years ; during this 
time he had an aqueduct constructed to bring clear 
water from Chapultepec to the city, and built a fine 
calzada, or paved road, to make direct communica- 
tion between Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan. 

This was the period of the usurpation of Tezozo- 
moc, king of Atzcapotzalco, who wrested the 
throne of the Chichimecs from Ixtlilxochitl, and 



AZTECS. 



95 



killed this brave but unfortunate prince. Maxtla, 
the tyrant, was the son and heir of Tezozomoc, and 
as we have seen he poured his wrath upon Nezahu- 
alcoyotl, the legitimate heir to the throne of the 
Chichimecs, the monarchy of Texcuco or Aculhua- 
can. 





X. 



MEXICANS. 



After the death in prison of their king Chimalpo- 
poca, the Mexicans did not hesitate to elect as his 
successor, Itzcoatl, the third son of their first sov- 
ereign, brother to their last, and general-in-chief of 
their armies, in which capacity he had shown him- 
self of great force and valor. 

When Maxtla heard of this he was full of wrath, 
having vainly imagined that the murder of the late 
king's children would have put an end to that line 
forever. He immediately began to make prepara- 
tions to destroy utterly the Mexicans, still nominally 
his vassals. 

Itzcoatl at once sent messengers to Nezahual- 
coyotl, the rightful heir of the Texcucans, proposing 
an alliance for the overthrow of the tyrant. Neza- 
hualcoyotl, as we have seen, had already recovered a 
part of his inheritance, and feeling himself strong 
enough for the effort, he accepted the proposals of 
the Mexican sovereign. 

Maxtla, to anticipate this step, sent open com- 
mands to his vassals, the Mexicans, that they should 
hold themselves in readiness to join his whole army 
in an attack upon Texcuco, since, as he announced, 

96 



MEXICANS. gy 

he was determined now to possess himself of the 
whole of the ancient kingdom of the Chichimecs. 

The chronicles say that the Mexicans were greatly 
terrifie'd, so intense was the terror inspired by Maxtla 
and his cruel warriors. The people burst into tears 
and lamentations at being forced into so unwelcome 
a war. 

Itzcoatl, with the greatest skill, calmed their agita- 
tion, and summoned them to another combat, which 
should decide the fate of the still youthful monarchy 
of the Mexicans. 

A great battle was fought against the Tepanecs 
with Maxtla at their head. Opposite him were ar- 
ranged the united forces of the Mexicans, the Chi- 
chimecs, and their allies, of the neighboring little 
state of Tlatelolco, as well as a great body of auxil- 
iary troops, which ranged themselves on the side of 
justice and against the terrible tyrant. The allied 
army sallied forth to the encounter, but was driven 
back, and the city of Tenochtitlan was about to fall 
into the hands of Maxtla, when the three chiefs, 
Nezahualcoyotl, Itzcoatl and Motecuhzoma, fol- 
lowed by their bravest warriors, plunged into the 
thickest of the fray, and by the fury of their attack 
caused the Tepanecs to flee with all haste. 

The battle was continued the next day, victory 
declaring itself for the allies, who pursued the Te- 
panecs even into their own capital Atzcapotzalco, 
where they set fire to the houses, sacking them first, 
and killing the inhabitants. The king Maxtla 
himself fell under the stroke of Nezahualcoyotl, 
who thus avenged the murder of his father, The 



93 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

taking of the capital city was the end of the king- 
dom of the Tepanecs. This took place in 1428. 

By the downfall of this monarchy, Nezahualcoyotl 
was reinstated upon the throne of his ancestors, at 
Texcuco, henceforth called the kingdom of Acolhua- 
can ; a small new kingdom arose, upon the ruins of 
the old, called that of the Tepanecs of Tlacopan ; 
these two formed with the Mexicans a triple alliance 
which lasted for more than a century. 

This alliance is called that of the " Valley Confed- 
erates," who by their united strength could crush 
the surrounding isolated tribes with perfect success. 

Itzcoatl died in 1440, much lamented by his peo- 
ple. His obsequies were performed with great so- 
lemnity. He was justly celebrated for his great gifts, 
and the services he rendered his country. An old 
author says of him that he was "a man so excellent 
that there is no language sufificient for his praises." 

On the death of this ruler, the Mexicans again 
came together to choose a king, and unanimously 
selected Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, brother of the 
late king, and son of the first one. His election 
was received with enthusiasm, because he was a 
great general, who had filled the minds of the peo- 
ple with his brilliant deeds in emancipating them 
from the tyrant control of the Tepanecs. 

Under this king the fortunes of the Mexicans 
reached their height. He was a great warrior, and 
by force of arms he subdued many surrounding 
tribes, and extended the power of his kingdom. He 
was an intense fanatic in religion, and a true despot, 
and carried his convictions to an extreme which. 



MEXICAN'S. 99 

while it extended his power, aHenated the other 
peoples of Anahuac, so that in the dark days of the 
future, they were ready rather to be against the Mex- 
icans than for them. 

His first act, having resolved to erect a great tem- 
ple to the god Huitzilopochtli, in gratitude for the 
success of the recent conflicts, was to send messages 
to all the country round about, summoning the 
neighbors to come and lend their aid in bringing 
the great work to an end. All obeyed with alacrity, 
except the Chalcas, a little tribe upon the lake, who 
entirely refused to contribute aid. The king in- 
stantly made war upon these people, and after 
bloody contests took possession of Amecameca, 
their capital, an ancient town at the very base of the 
volcanoes. Other towns fell into the hands of the 
Mexicans. Meanwhile, the influence of the Tex- 
cucan court, aided by the natural development 
that comes with success, had much advanced the 
Aztec from the pitiful state of squalor in which his 
race made their entrance into the Valley of 
Anahuac only a century before. Without be- 
lieving the exaggerated accounts of the Spaniards 
describing the splendors they found in Mexico, we 
may at least allow the Aztecs a degree of intelligence 
and cultivation on a level with the civilization of 
their time. 

In the middle of the fifteenth century, the Mexi- 
cans suffered from an infliction which has since many 
a time caused trouble to their capital. Abundant 
rains so swelled the lake that the city was inundated, 
many buildings destroyed, and inhabitants drowned. 



lOO THE STORV op MEXICO. 

The king of Texcuco advised the building of a great 
dike, so thick and strong as to keep out the water. 
The next year the chronicles relate that a heavy 
snow fell for six days and nights, destroying all vege- 
tation, and a great number of human beings and 
animals. The loss of crops for these years caused 
such a famine, that in spite of the great liberality of 
the king and his grandees, many people emigrated 
to the south. 

These disasters furnish but a poor excuse for the 
human sacrifice with which the Aztecs sought to 
appease the wrath of their god. The Mexican king 
used to sally forth at fixed intervals to battle with 
the sole object of seizing prisoners for sacrifice, with- 
out laying any claim to lands or kingdoms. He ex- 
tended these raids as far as the valley of Tlaxcalla, 
and the neighboring city of Cholula, carrying off 
victims, but leaving the government of these prov- 
inces as he found them. This explains the cause of 
the continued independence of these provinces, in 
spite of their constant warfare with Mexico, and 
also shows what reason these people had for hating 
a neighbor who made himself so disagreeable. Mote- 
cuhzoma made the power of his arm felt even to the 
shores of the Gulf, and enlarged his territory in all 
directions. He framed a code for repressing crime, 
made laws regulating the dress and ornaments of his 
subjects, invented any number of new religious rites 
and sacrifices hitherto unheard of, built many temples, 
and strove to establish the principles of his religion 
throughout Anahuac. Thus the poor and miserable 
little tribe of a century before, at the death of Mote- 



Mexicans. lot 

cuhzoma Ilhuicamina had greatly gained in strength 
and extent. 

Three sovereigns followed Motecuhzoma, in due 
course, and in practice of the same methods of gov- 
ernment. They extended their depredations all over 
the country, sometimes meeting with resistance, as 
in the case of Michoacan, in 1479, when the Mexi- 
cans were utterly routed by the Tarascos in a bloody 
battle which lasted two days. The king at that time 
was Axayacatl, who died soon after his disastrous 
defeat. He left two sons destined to play a part in 
the last scene of the history of Mexican monarchy — 
Motecuhzoma the Second and Cuitlahuac. 

The immediate successor of Axayacatl was his 
brother, Tizoc, who, as was the custom, left the 
position of general-in-chief to become king. He was 
a brave warrior, stern and uncompromising in char- 
acter, zealous in gathering victims to sacrifice to his 
gods. 

In the museum of Mexico is a monument which 
preserves the name and deeds of this great warrior 
king. It is a large carved stone, which was found in 
the course of excavation for a sewer, almost a hun- 
dred years ago in the principal plaza of the city of 
Mexico. It is called the Cuauhxicalli of Tizoc, which 
means the Drinking-cup of the Eagle. On its upper 
face is carved an image of the sun. On the carved 
sides are fifteen groups, each group of two persons, 
the conquering warrior grasping by the hair a prisoner. 
The warrior is in each the same figure repeated. The 
fifteen prisoners represent fifteen conquered tribes. 
The conqueror is Tizoc, seventh king of Mexico, who 



I02 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

occupied the throne from 148 1 to i486. There is a 
theory that these carvings have a further allegorical 
meaning. The evening star and the moon are rep- 
resented as two warriors engaged in a struggle, in 
which the former makes the attack, and the latter 
defends himself. Tizoc is intended by the morning 
star, and the moon represents the conquered nations. 
The evening star wears the sacred mask ; the part of 
his face left uncovered, as well as his hands and feet, 
are sirieared with a black ointment peculiar to priests 
and gods. His body is covered with a tiger skin, 
which is always an attribute with the natives of the 
morning star, which draws captive after it all the 
other stars, so that the sky spotted with light seemed 
to them typified by the spotted skin of the tiger. 
The warrior has in one hand a sword of obsidian, 
and in the other a shield bearing the symbols of the 
planet. The face and garments of the vanquished 
warrior are white like the rays of the moon. His feet 
are bound, but in one hand he holds high his sword of 
obsidian, while the other grasps the standard and 
mirror of the moon. 

The use to which the stone was applied by Tizoc 
was less purely fanciful. In his time, among the 
Aztecs, there existed an order of nobles whose title 
was the eagles. The sun was their patron saint. 
During certain ceremonies they sacrificed to the sun 
a human victim, upon this stone, the drinking-cup 
of the Eagles. This victim was chosen from the 
prisoners taken in war. He was brought forward, at 
the sound of music, surrounded by illustrious noble- 
men. His legs were painted with red and white 



I04 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

stripes, and half his face was painted red ; a white 
plume was stuck in his hair. In one hand he carried 
a walking-stick, gay with ribbons and plumes ; in 
the other, a shield covered with cotton. His thighs 
were bound round with little bundles containing 
gifts. He was led to the bottom of the grand stair- 
case of the temple and thus addressed : 

" Sir, what we desire is that thou goest before our 
god, the sun, to salute him for us. Tell him that his 
sons and chief gentlemen here supplicate him to 
remember them, hoping he will accept the small 
recuerdo we send him. Give him the walking-stick, 
the shield, and the other things in the little bundle." 

The victim then went slowly up the steps, receiv- 
ing fresh instructions as to what he should say to 
the sun. At the top was the drinking-cup, and tow- 
ards this he advanced. In a loud voice, addressing 
at once the real sun and its image carved upon the 
stone, he delivered the message just given him. 
Then came four attendants, who seized him by hands 
and feet, and having taken away the cane, the shield, 
and little bundles, they ascended with him the 
four steps of the stone, where the high-priest cut his 
throat, commanding him thus to go with his mes- 
sage to the real sun in the other life. The blood 
flowed down the basin in the stone through a canal 
to the side where the image of the sun was carved, 
so that this was quenched with blood. Meantime, 
the sacrificador opened the breast of the victim and 
plucked out the heart, holding it aloft until it be- 
came cold, thereby offering it to the sun. Thus 
went on his way the luckless messenger. 



MEXICANS. 105 

Tizoc began the construction of a great temple in 
honor of Huitzilopochth, a superb edifice, according 
to the chronicles, the most lofty in the city, cover- 
ing all the site of the present cathedral, and moreover 
extending over much of the ground now occupied 
by the Plaza Mayor. Tizoc was poisoned, at the in- 
stigation of some neighboring kings, by women who 
brought him a fatal drink. He died suddenly, after 
a brief reign of four years. 

Ahuitzotl, his brother and successor, hastened to 
bring the great teocalli to completion, and its dedi- 
cation was the occasion of a great feast and cele- 
bration. Kings and caciques of the allied people 
came, bringing rich offerings to the Mexican mon- 
arch, who displayed the greatest magnificence in 
receiving his guests. The chief feature of the occa- 
sion was the great slaughter of four days of victims 
made prisoners of war on purpose for the sacrifice 
to the god to whom the temple was reared. 

Ahuitzotl was troubled with inundations of the 
lake, and by the advice of Nezahualpilli the Wise, 
he caused huge dikes to be constructed, which averted 
the danger. The monarch himself was overtaken 
by water bursting into one of the lower chambers 
of his palace. As he rushed suddenly out of the 
room to avoid the flood, he received a blow on the 
head by striking a beam, which caused his death a 
few years after. 

This monarch was passionately devoted to war, 
and by his conquests he extended widely the domin- 
ions of the crown. He was violent, vengeful, and 
cruel, the terror of the people he conquered, jealous 



Io6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

to preserve untouched his authority, pitiless in exact- 
ing tribute and collecting taxes ; in a word, a des- 
pot, holding absolute control over the lives and 
actions of his subjects. In compensation for these 
unattractive characteristics his historians give him 
credit for greatly embellishing his capital city. He 
was fond of music, liberal to the needy, and gener- 
ous to such soldiers as distinguished themselves in 
his wars. 

At the death of Ahuitzotl the kingdom ruled of 
his ancestors had reached the height of its extent, 
splendor, and power. On the north, its frontier ex- 
tended to the 2 1st degree of latitude. On the east, 
with the exception of the kingdom of Texcuco, and 
the independent tribes of Cholula, Tlaxcalla, and 
Huexotzinco, it reached the Gulf of Mexico, includ- 
ing all the shore, from the semi-independent Cuexte- 
cas to the border of the Coatzacoalco River. On the 
southeast the kingdom extended to Xoconochco, 
towards the south its boundry touched Mexcalla, and 
on the west its barrier was the haughty kingdom of 
Michoacan, against which the armies of the Mexi- 
cans fought always in vain. 

Such a point of power had reached the Aztec tribe 
in the course of one hundred years. From their 
small beginning as a handful of hunted creatures, 
hiding in the rushes of a swamp, they had grown to 
bean all-powerful nation, carrying a triumphant war- 
fare throughout the land, and enlarging their boun- 
daries with every triumph. The shocking features of 
their sanguinary religion make them odious to our 
minds. It is difficult to accommodate it to the eentle 




bCULFTUKK KKPRESE.NTING HUMAN SACRIFICE. 



107 



I08 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

traits of the Aztec character, which shows them to be 
of domestic tastes, affectionate and mild in temper. 
Such a stain upon the nation is only to be explained, 
not excused, by the power of religious fanaticism. 
Other religions in other parts of the world, were 
exercising a control as arbitrary, with results the 
same in quality though not in degree. In 1480, in 
Spain, the Holy Inquisition was established against 
apostates, that is, persons converted from any other 
religion to that of the Roman Catholic Church, who, 
after baptism, reverted to Judaism or the faith of 
Islam. The tribunal of Seville, alone, between 1480 
and 1520, consigned four thousand victims to the 
flames. 

Louis XI. of France wore little images of saints 
and angels in his cap, while he did not hesitate to 
shut up his enemies for life in a wooden cage. As 
his death drew near in 1483, he shuddered at the 
thought of the victims, more than five thousand, 
whom he had caused to be put- to death, for his own 
ends, without the plea of religious ardor. 

Richard III., in England, during a short reign 
of two years from 1483 to 1485, not only murdered 
his young nephews, but put to death his brother, the 
Duke of Clarence, Lord Hastings, Jane Shore, and 
his own friend and ally the Duke of Buckingham. 

It is of course idle to compare the civilization of 
the two continents at that period ; widely separated 
as they were, and each ignorant of the very existence 
of the other. European society emerged from the 
barbarism of the dark ages was, according to its in- 
terpretation of them, based upon the teachings of the 



MEXICANS. 109 

faith of Christ. No such advantages, as yet, had 
reached the plateau of Anahuac. The most elevat- 
ing influence shed over its people was from the tra- 
ditional Quetzalcoatl, whose teachings of mild and 
gentle manners left a deep and prevading impression. 
Otherwise, the, struggle for life, rude contact with the 
lower instincts of the less developed with the better 
informed, gave an always downward tendency to the 
institutions of their society. 

It is all very obscure, now more than ever, be- 
cause new information is disturbing the accepted 
theory of Aztec culture given by writers of Mexican 
history up to nearly the present time. For a true 
knowledge of early life in Mexico, we must wait till 
explorers and archaeologists have fully established 
their discoveries by facts. Such an exposition, 
which is pretty sure to come, will be of great 
importance to those interested in the future, as well 
as the past, of the native races of Mexico. 

Meanwhile, in a book like this, which is permitted 
to gather up legend as well as fact, in order to pre- 
sent the attractive, even romantic, side of its subject, 
it would be a pity to wholly set aside the accounts 
of the Aztecs, as they have hitherto been given in 
current history, as worthless and superseded. This 
would be to leave a gap at the very beginning of 
authentic story, to take away the lowest step of the 
ladder we wish to climb. If the " Last of the Mon- 
tezumas " is to be reduced to a chieftain of a seden- 
tary tribe, we, in this story of Mexico, may regard 
him as one once invested with the glories of an.em- 
pire. Our chief object in examining the early periods 



no THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

written of in the preceding chapters, is to gather 
clear impressions of the character of the people we 
are reading about. For this end it is of vast import- 
ance to know whether the native races now forming 
a large part of the population of Mexico, are de- 
scended from a cultivated line of kings, or whether 
ihey merely inherit the manners and customs of 
illiterate tribes. The reader must for himself create 
from the stories drawn from Spanish accounts, and 
evidences given by picture-writings, and the descrip- 
tion of monuments and ruins, his own idea of the 
Aztec character, giving due weight to the substance 
of the legends about Mexican greatness, while he 
brushes off with modern ruthlessness the cobwebs 
which obscure the truth of the story, however 
brightly they may sparkle, and adorn the tale. 




* XI. 

AZTEC CHARACTER. 

It is impossible with our present knowledge to 
form an estimate of the civilization of the Aztecs at 
their highest point. The reports given by the 
Spaniards at the time of the conquests are not to be 
relied upon, as they paint in the. exaggerated colors 
they thought most likely to give glory to their own 
achievements. Unfortunately they felt called upon 
to destroy most of the picture-writings they found, 
v/hich would have been as valuable in forming an 
opmion of the manners and customs of the race they 
depicted, as the volumes we find in European libra- 
ries are to enlighten us 'upon the manners and 
customs of contemporary races in Europe. 

The Aztecs knew no alphabet, but instead of 
letters they used certain signs or hieroglyphics by 
which they wrote on every subject— religion, history, 
geography, poetry, feasts, famines, wars, and the 
arts of peace. This fashion of writing was handed 
down from father to son, and taught in colleges or 
by the priests. The artists who executed the manu- 
scripts were treated with general consideration, and 
the sovereign even paid them honor. They worked 
on paper made of the fibre of the maguey, or on 

III 



112 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

linen cloth, with a sort of pen like the stylus of the 
Romans. The colors were procured from vegetable 
dyes, in general. They had little variety of tint, but 
were vivid and permanent. 

These paintings, of which several of the small 
remnant in existence of the great quantity destroyed 
by the Conquistadores are in the museum at Mex- 
ico, are extremely interesting, both as works of art 
from a point of view entirely different from our 
European prejudices, and also as recording events 
with wonderful simplicity and directness. 

The one called the Wanderings of the Aztecs, is 
absolutely authentic, and is wholly interpreted. It 
is forty-eight feet long and nine inches wide done 
on maguey paper, all in black, with no other colors, 
except that the line of travel is marked in red. 
This painting gives the route of the Aztecs, from 
their departure from Aztlan until their arrival in the 
valley of Mexico. On an island, in the land of 
Aztlan, stands a teocalli, like the temples of worship 
in Mexico. The chronology year by year is given, 
and the various halts made by the wanderers, with 
the principal events that befell them. A short piece 
at the end is torn off and missing, which probably 
depicted the founding of Tenochtitlan. 

Another painting depicts a range of mountains 
among which is one pouring forth smoke from its 
summit. On the left is a city entirely surrounded 
by water, with the cactus growing on the rock, which 
always signifies Tenochtitlan. The mountain doubt- 
less in Popocatepetl, which by its name signifies 
Hill that gives Smoke. Another painting gives 



114 THE STOKY OF MEXICO. 

the chronology of the kings of Mexico and Tex- 
cuco ; it is long, stretching half across the large 
room of the museum in which it is exhibited. 

If we only had more of these paintings, the daily 
life of the Aztecs would be before us, just, as we can 
read on the Egyptian monuments every detail of 
such remote living. 

In the usual accounts of the religion of the Az- 
tecs, more stress is laid upon the horror of their 
human sacrifice than upon its other features, which, 
however, deserve notice. They firmly believed in a 
future life. While some of the Nahuatl races im- 
agined that after death the common people would 
be transformed into insects, the chiefs into birds, the 
Aztecs conceived of graduated stages of happiness for 
mankind. Warriors slain in battle were immediately 
to dwell in the house of the sun ; less distinguished 
souls went to live in the various planets. But these 
starry houses were only temporary. For four years 
after the death of a relative the friends offered meat, 
wines, flowers, and perfumes to the dead in certain 
months of the year, one of which was dedicated to 
dead children, and the other to warriors killed in 
battle. 

When a chief died among the Aztecs great care 
was taken in ornamenting the body, as if preparing 
it for a hmg journey. Several papers are presented 
to the corpse : one as a passport across the defile be- 
tween the two mountains; one with which to avoid 
the great serpent ; the third was to put to flight the 
alligator ; the fourth would give a safe crossing over 
the eight great deserts and the eight hills. A little 



AZTEC CHARACTER. Il5 

red-haired dog was killed, a leash put about his 
neck, and he was buried near the corpse. Always 
the little dog, for rich or poor, warrior or slave, to 
guide his master across the nine great torrents which 
every departed soul must encounter. 

Domestic life, we may infer, was happy with the 
Aztecs. Every man was bound to marry when he 
reached the age of twenty years. Polygamy was 
not forbidden ; a man could have as many wives as 
he could afford to support. There were no patro- 
nymic names. Mothers chose names for their chil- 
dren as soon as they were born ; these names were 
generally connected with the month in which the 
child was born, or some circumstance connected with 
the event. When each boy grew up, he was given 
a name by the medicine man, and by an act of espe- 
cial bravery he might gain a third name. 

The laws against stealing and other crimes were 
strictly enforced, although unwritten, the penalties 
probably assigned in accordance with ancient cus- 
toms. 

The Aztecs were essentially musical, as their de- 
scendants are now. Their songs and hymns trans- 
mitted the traditions of their race, and are carefully 
taught in the schools. They had a sort of theatrical 
exhibition, in which the faces of the actors were hid 
with masks representing birds or animals. 

The relic which gives the best testimony of the 
mental powers of the Aztecs is their calendar, pre- 
served for centuries from destruction, and now built 
into the cathedral of the city of Mexico.. It was 
carved in the year 15 12 A.D., and brought to the 



Il6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ancient Tenochtitlan from the spot where it was 
made. When it had nearly reached its destination, 
it broke down the floating bridge on which it was 
loaded, and was precipitated into the lake. The 
priest superintending the moving, and many of his 
assistants, were drowned, but it was raised with great 
difficulty from the water, and brought to the great 
temple located by Tizoc and Ahuitzotl, where it was 
inaugurated with human sacrifices. 

Not many years later this temple, like many 
others, was destroyed, and the huge calendar with 
other objects of heathen worship were buried in the 
surrounding marshes as the best way to get rid of 
them, by the order of the Christian priests. It lay 
hidden for two centuries, until the 17th of Decem- 
ber, 1790, when the grade of the pavement in front 
of the cathedral was lowered, and it came to light. 
The Spanish Viceroy then controlling Mexican affairs 
allowed the commissioners of the cathedral to build 
it into their sacred edifice, pn condition that it should 
be always preserved and exposed in a public place. 
It is now, however, considered as the property of 
the National Museum. 

This zodiac or calendar is twelve feet in diameter, 
made of a piece of basalt of immense weight. It 
gives a clear exposition of the division of time un- 
derstood by the Aztecs, into cycles, years, and days. 
Fifty-two years constituted a cycle, the year had 
three hundred and sixty-five days, with five very un- 
lucky intercalary days, wholly devoted to human 
sacrifice. Each year had eighteen months of twenty 
days each, and these months four weeks of five days 



■AZTEC CHARACTER. II7 

each. The days had delightful names, such as " Sea 
Animal," " Small Bird," " Monkey," " Rain," ; not 
recurring every week, but different for the twenty 
different days of the month. The cardinal points 
were named " Reed," " House," " Flint," '' Rabbit," 
for east, west, north, and south. Thus an Aztec 
might say, " I am going House on Sea-Animal," 
which would merely mean that he was starting for 
the west on Monday. The months likewise had de- 
scriptive names : thus the third month, which might 
correspond to our March, was called "Victims flayed 
alive," while the more agreeable title for the sixth 
month, which we call July, was " Garlands of corn 
on the necks of idols," As their writing was by pic- 
tures instead of by combinations of letters selected 
from an alphabet, they could give a long name in 
brief space with a few adroit turns of their writing 
instrument. 

The Mexican archaeologist, Leony Gama, considers 
the stone not only to be a calendar, but a solar clock, 
which by means of shadows cast in a certain manner 
gave eight intervals of the day between the rising 
and setting sun. He adds that the stone clearly 
shows the dates of the vernal and autumnal equi- 
noxes, summer and winter solstice. On the other 
hand, the antiquarian Chavero is of opinion that the 
stone could not have been used as a calendar on ac- 
count of lacking certain indispensable elements for 
the computation of time. He considers it a gigantic 
votive monument to the sun, above which sacrifices 
were offered. Whatever was the original intention 
of the sculptures of this great stone, it has survived 



Il8 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

them to bear testimony to their attentive notice of 
the movements of the earth and heavenly bodies, of 
their interest in astronomy, and their accuracy in 
arithmetical calculation, as well as their skill in carv- 
ing and design, and their power to overcome the 
mechanical difificulty of moving so huge a mass of 
stone. 

The cycle of the Aztecs was a period of fifty-two 
years. They believed that some great catastrophe 
would occur at the end of one of these cycles, and 
therefore approached the termination of each one, at 
the interval of fifty-two years, with terror and dismay. 
On the arrival of the five unlucky days at the close 
of the year when the end of the cycle recurred, they 
abandoned themselves to despair. They broke in 
pieces the little images of their household gods, 
lighted no fires in their dwellings, and allowed the 
holy fires in the temples to burn out. They 
destroyed every thing they possessed, and tore their 
garments, as if there was to be no further use for 
earthly comforts. 

On the evening of the fifth day a procession 
moved from the city to the top of a hill six miles 
south of the city. There, at midnight, just as the 
constellation of the Pleiades reached the zenith, a 
new fire was kindled by rubbing sticks over the 
breast of a human victim. The body of this victim 
was thrown to the flames which sprang up from the 
new-born fire. Shouts of joy and delight burst forth 
from the surrounding hills, the housetops, and ter- 
races, which were crowded with the populace watch- 
ing for the result. Torches lighted at the blazing 



AZTEC CHARACTER. 1 19 

pile were carried to every home, and kindled with 
fresh flame every hearthstone. The sun rose, the 
new cycle commenced, and the Aztecs felt safe for 
fifty-two years more. 

Then came the house-cleaning. All the destroyed 
pots and pans were replaced by new ones. New 
clothes, prepared, we must fear, beforehand, took 
the place of the old ones. The people, gayly 
dressed and crowned with flowers, thronged to the 
temples to offer up their thanksgiving. All was joy 
and merriment ; dances and songs were the order of 
the day, gifts exchanged. The last celebration of 
this festival was in 1506. 

While the warriors of the Mexicans were engaged 
in ceaseless raids upon neighboring tribes, the true 
occupation of the people was agriculture, which in 
their delightful climate well repaid their toil and 
skill. All the inhabitants, even in the cities, culti- 
vated the soil, except the soldiers and the great 
nobles. The men did all the heavy work, the wo- 
men helping them by scattering seed, husking maize, 
and such light matters. Canals were cut through 
sterile lands, for they fully understood the import- 
ance of artificial irrigation, to aid the influence of 
their rainy season. The forests which covered the 
country were preserved by severe penalties. Ample 
granaries were provided to contain their harvests. , 

Such crops, etc., as were available for their lands 
were known to the Aztecs, and developed to their 
full extent. They thoroughly appreciated and en- 
joyed the wealth of flowers which nature scattered 
oyer the soil. Flowers were to them an important 



I20 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

part of their religious ceremonies ; their soft, bril- 
liant, or gaudy colors had each its peculiar signifi- 
cance. Out of them the women wove wreaths for 
the head, and long festoons for decoration, heaping 
blossoms in greatest profusion wherever was festiv- 
ity and rejoicing. In fact in the Aztec disposition 
is found an inheritance of gentleness and mildness, 
brought with them from Aztlan, shown in their con- 




VASE. MUSEUM AT MEXICO. 

sideration for women, their industry, their taste in 
ornament, and their devotion to flowers. The fe- 
rocity of their religious sacrifices has nothing in com- 
mon with these other traits of character. It is as if 
this dismal feature of their creed were picked up 
somewhere on the way during their long wanderings, 
a dark, bloody thread interwoven in the soft, tender 
fabric of their composition. The women were not 
oppressed, but ruled their homes peaceably, assisting 
in the lighter work of the field, and taking care of 



AZTEC CHARACTER. 121 

the children, preparing food, and all household re- 
quirements. 

Among the Aztecs was an order of" priestesses, 
who withdrew from the world for one or more years 
at the age of twelve or thirteen, and went to live 
shut up within the inner courts of the teocalli. Their 
hair was cut in a set fashion, common to all, but 
they were allowed to let it grow again after one 
cutting; they were draped in white, without any 
decoration or ornament, and always slept in their 
clothes, " in order to be ready for work in the morn- 
ing." The life was one of abstinence and toil ; they 
carried their eyes always cast down, and bore them- 
selves with great modesty of deportment, always 
watched by the sharp eye of a lady-superior within 
the walls of their retreat, and outside by vigilant 
old men who stood guard by day and night. Their 
food was plain and sparing, only at feast-time were 
they allowed meat, and then because their accus- 
tomed routine was interrupted by unusual exertion. 
They assisted at the religious dances of these festi- 
vals, their feet and hands adorned with feathers, and 
their cheeks painted red. On days of penance they 
pricked their ears, and put the blood on their cheeks 
"as a religious rouge," says the account ; washing it 
off in a particular basin destined for that purpose. 
The slightest variation from the path prescribed to 
them was punished by death. Some of the Nahuatl 
deities are goddesses, which shows that the sexes 
were not unequally reverenced. An important god- 
dess, Coatlicue, or She of the Skirt of Serpents, has 
a statue in the court of the museum at Mexico, 



122 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

which is regarded as one of the best specimens of 
Aztec workmanship. Like the calendar, it was 
found buried in the Plaza Mayor, not far from the 
cathedral, doubtless tumbled there by the Spaniards 
when they destroyed the great teocalli. It is not 
beautiful according to ideas of symmetry formed 
from the Venus of Milo ; it is strange and interesting 
on account of the quantity of symbols by which it is 
overwhelmed. Coatlicue, or Cihuatcotl, or Cihua- 
coatl, is the serpent woman, mother of the first 
human pair in the world ; she is the goddess of the 
earth, in the night-time, after sunset. She is, there- 
fore, the mistress of the dead. And then she is the 
mother of Quetzalcoatl, the god and hero of the 
early Nahuatl. This sounds better than it looks. 
The upper part is the head of a serpent, whose body 
is entwined with that of a woman. The skirt is a 
web of snakes, adorned with tassels and feathers. 
The figure has many hands, as a symbol of the pro- 
duction-giving power of the earth. The skull at the 
girdle shows that on her breast repose her children 
after death in eternal slumber. 

Such were the Aztecs in 1500, after little more 
than a century of life in their new land. Much of 
their civilization, many of their customs, they must 
have caught from the older, longer established, re- 
fined court of the Texcucans, their neighbors at the 
other end of the lake, whose dynasty was much 
older, and whose traditions came down unimpaired 
from the cultivated Toltecs, whose remote ancestors, 
if they came from the same stem as the Aztecs and 
wandered to Anahuac from the same shadowy Az- 



AZTEC CHARACTER. I23 

tlan or Huehue-Tlapallan, had yet the advantage of 
a couple of centuries of development, and a longer 
abstinence from the bloody rites of a savage religion. 

The Mexicans were in some ^oxt parvenus on the 
plateau. They won their way by their valor in bat- 
tle, and insisted on recognition by the other tribes, 
by superior force or ferocity conquering to them- 
selves a large portion of the happy land. The neigh- 
boring people made way for them, a few to be their 
allies ; but their ferocious warfare had made them 
detested by those who feared them in all the sur- 
rounding country, so that these other kingdoms, 
republics, or sedentary races saw not unwillingly the 
downfall of the haughty Aztec house, even if they 
did not actively help its invaders. 

In the end, this policy was fatal to all. Once they 
had gained a foothold on the plateau, the Conquis- 
tadores stopped not until the whole country was 
within their grasp. 




XII. 



THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. 



Ahuitzotl died in 1502. His successor was 
Motecuhzoma II., the son of the famous warder 
King Axayacatl. Motecuhzoma took the surname 
of Xocoyotzin to distinguish him from the first king 
with his name. 

He was thirty-four years old when he came to the 
throne. He had been general-in-chief of the armies, 
as was usual with the heir-apparent to the throne, 
and when he was elected king he was fulfilling the 
of^ce of high-priest, which was unusual. His de- 
meanor was grave, calm, and taciturn. He was in- 
flexible in his determination, and admitted no con- 
tradiction, stern and cruel in exacting obedience to 
his commands ; but extremely credulous and timid 
to cowardice when his superstitious fears were 
aroused. 

He is said to have been handsome, of a fine form, 
slight rather than robust, with great dignity of man- 
ner. His well-formed features wore an habitual 
expression of sadness or gloom, even in the early 
days of his reign, when the shadow of his destiny 
had not to all appearance yet fallen upon him. 

When his election was announced to him, he was 

i?4 



THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. \1^ 

found sweeping down the stairs in the great teocalli. 
He received the message with assured humiUty, as 
one unfit for so high a station. The usual great 
preparations were made for his coronation, which 
was more splendid than those of his predecessors, 
graced by the sacrifice of a horde of captives, won 
by the young monarch in battle for this purpose. 
Nezahualpilli, the wise king of Texcuco, the valued 
relative and adviser of the Aztec royal house, made 
an address at the coronation which has been pre- 
served. 

" Who can doubt," he exclaimed at the close, 
"that the Aztec empire has reached the zenith of its 
greatness ! Rejoice, happy people, and thou, happy 
youth, doubt not that our Great Deity will keep thee 
safe upon thy throne through many long and glori- 
ous years." 

Now let us try to imagine this young heir to a 
splendid kingdom, just ascending the steps of the 
throne, clothed in all the majesty which the customs 
of his country allowed. Soft robes of well chosen 
colors hung about him, and over all the beautiful 
mantle of feather-work which the Aztecs knew how 
to make out of the plumage of all the brilliant trop- 
ical birds within their reach. There was no stint of 
splendor in his ornaments, neck, wrists, ankles en- 
clasped with gold, and set with precious stones. A 
superb head-dress, over which waved a bunch of 
feathers, stuck with sparkling jewels, added dignity 
to his haughty carriage and grave features. 

One hundred years of successful government had 
made the Aztecs proud. Their enemies feared them. 



126 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Surrounding nations sought their friendship for the 
sake of peace. The great house of Texcuco had 
alHed itself with their king in marriage. Mingled in 
the veins of Montezuma with the savage blood of 
the worshippers of Huitzilopochtli, the terrible god 
of war, was a gentler strain of the delicate culture of 
the family of Nezahualcoyotl. The career of the 
young monarch seemed clear before him ; it was to be 
a life of stirring excitement in battle, — a warfare not 
for conquest or slaughter on the field, but a holy en- 
terprise to bring back the necessary material for sacri- 
fice to the gods, in whom he believed so firmly that 
the horror of such wholesale destruction of life made 
not the slightest impression. In the Aztec wars their 
enemies were seldom killed in battle ; the great ob- 
ject was to save prisoners alive, in order to lay them 
upon their altars. 

But these fearful raids upon surrounding popula- 
tions were only episodes in the life he proposed 
to himself. He inherited a splendid palace in a 
great city; for although we are now taught to con- 
sider the accounts of Tenochtitlan given by the 
Spaniards as grossly exaggerated, we must accept 
the assumption that in the estimation of himself and 
his people his palace was splendid, and that the city 
was great, and upon this foundation, since the Span- 
ish statements are unreliable, and accurate informa- 
tion is lacking, we may draw upon fancy to fill up the 
picture. 

All splendor is comparative; the halls of the 
Montezumas, never in contact with the palaces of 
the Old World, were to be judged upon a scale of 



THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. 12^ 

their own. Tenochtitlan was, undoubtedly, the rich- 
est city upon Anahuac. It was built, like Venice, in 
the midst of waters, upon an island intersected with 
canals, and communicating with the mainland by 
means of four broad causeways. An aqueduct from 
Chapultepec brought fresh water, as the lake was 
brackish. The streets were laid out in straight lines 
and at right angles, following the direction of the 
causeways ; some of them were the intersecting 
canals themselves, Avith houses facing at once upon 
the water, and on the other side the street. Upon 
the canals floated canoas for pleasure or business, 
coming from the suburbs laden with food, vegeta- 
bles, and fruit, the cargo heaped always with a pro- 
fusion of flowers, bright-hued poppies, sweet peas, 
and the deep-red blossoms of clover. Above the 
houses, which were not high, with flat roofs, or 
azoteas, rose the lofty teocalli, and the walls of the 
royal palace which dominated the other buildings. 

Bernal Diaz, the companion of Cortes, who is 
charged with much garrulity and exaggeration, says 
that when the Spaniards arrived at the great cause- 
way leading to the capital they paused, struck with 
admiration on seeing so many cities and villages ris- 
ing from the soil, with the splendid highway, perfectly 
level, stretching on to Mexico. They compared the 
scene to the enchanted castles described in " Amadis 
of Gaul," and as they gazed at the lofty towers, the 
great temples, and the white buildings gleaming in 
the sun and reflected in the waters of the lake, they 
asked each other if it was not all a dream. The old 
chronicler ends his account with this brief remark: 



128 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

" Now, the whole of this city is destroyed and not a 
bit of it left standing." 

The life that Montezuma proposed to himself was 
one of enjoyment and pleasure. Upon his people he 
wasted little thought. The country was prosperous 
and they were happy, always a docile and domestic 
population busy with agriculture, their crops, and 
their families. It is said that he used to go out 
among them like the Sultan in the " Arabian 
Nights," disguised, to see what the occupations 
of his subjects were, and hear what they talked 
about. But this must have been chiefly to fill up 
his time, for there was no danger of sedition or con- 
spiracy among the citizens of his capital. A walk 
incognito outside its walls, through the lanes of any 
one of the surrounding pueblos would have revealed 
to him a state of hostility and a longing for his over- 
throw which might have taught him something for 
the future. 

In the palace was luxurious living ; fruits of the 
warmer climate, and even fresh fish from the Gulf, 
it is said, were brought by swift-footed runners up 
the steep path that the steam-engine now requires 
fourteen hours to climb ; music and the enjoyment 
of society, occupied leisure hours. The state corre- 
spondence of the Aztec court consisted in picture 
writings brought by messengers from all parts of 
the country, depicting in realistic forms the events 
requiring attention. Montezuma could go to the 
lovely Grasshopper Hill over the fine causeway under 
the aqueduct built by his ancestors ; not as the gay, 
fashionable world now makes the excursion on horse- 



THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. I29 

back before breakfast, for air and exercise, but car- 
ried in a palanquin by four strong bearers. It has 
been thought that the Aztec kings had a royal villa 
at Chapultepec ; but the wise men have given that 
up now, because they find no traces of any. Lately, 
however, have been discovered fragments of the 
efifigy of Ahuitzotl, Montezuma's uncle and prede- 
cessor, who was doubtless buried there. It was 
carved in half-relief, a full-length figure life-size, 
stretched out on a ledge of natural rock. The carv- 
ing is much mutilated, the top having been blasted 
off apparently, but beneath, distinctly visible, is the 
date corresponding to 1507, with the name, Ahuit- 
zotl. 

This chieftain died in 1502. The monument was 
erected therefore by the direction of his successor, 
Montezuma, in the spot well-beloved by all genera- 
tions of Aztecs, under the trees protected and 
guarded by them. 

There is now standing an ancient cypress, or 
ahiiehiiete, huge among the other great trees of the 
grove, which goes by the name of Montezuma's 
cypress. Its gnarled trunk must measure more than 
ten feet across, and its branches themselves are as 
big as trees. The leaves of this great tree are small 
and delicate, like those of the acacia ; they hang 
from slender stems drooping over the great limbs 
down to the ground. Long trailing gray moss now 
droops from the branches, which, with the dense foli- 
age, shuts out the rays of the sun, so that a gloomy 
half-light pervades the place. Perhaps it was more 
cheerful in the heyday of Mexico, or did coming 



130 rilE STORY OF MEXICO. 

events cast their shadows before, as Montezuma 
paced those silent alleys? 

It may well have been, for misfortunes began to 
obscure the sky of his prosperity like little clouds 
coming up on the horizon. His almost constant 
wars were not always successful. Each victory left 
behind it bitterness and discontent, so that the same 
field had soon to be fought over again. In 1516, 
Nezahualpilli, the wise sovereign of Texcuco, who 
had always been a safe and strong adviser of the 
Aztec king, during his long reign of forty-four 
years, left the kingdom to the eldest of four sons, 
Cacamatzin ; the honor was coveted by another son, 
Ixtlilxochitl, who contested the throne. Montezuma 
took the side of Cacamatzin, as rightful heir, in a 
civil war. The matter was settled by a division. 
Cacamatzin kept that part of the kingdom of the 
Aculhuas which stretched south of the capital Tex- 
cuco ; while his rebellious brother obtained the part 
towards the north, among the mountains. This di- 
vision of the kingdom becomes important to us by 
and by. 
v^ About this time all minds in Anahuac were occu- 
pied by sinister presages, constantly repeated, of 
dreadful events soon to occur. Temples were in 
.flames, comets appeared unexpectedly ; there were 
inundations, earthquakes all over the land, and the 
people dreamed strange dreams. 

Above all hovered the rumor that men of great 
stature, white and with beards, were on their way to 
subjugate all the nations of the earth. This rumor 
was perfectly in accordance with the universal tradi- 



THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. 131 

tion about Quetzalcoatl(the Bright Shining Serpent), 
the bearded white man, clothed in raiment covered 
with crosses, who had taught theToltecs awe, indus- 
try, and skill. He predicted with supreme authority 
before he disappeared from them, the arrival of men 
white and bearded as he was, who would take pos- 
session of the country, and destroy their temples 
and their gods. 

This event was a part of the Mexican belief, a 
something in the future to be hoped for in a certain 
way, yet dreaded as the inception of great changes 
in the manners of the people. The races subjugated 
by the power of Montezuma might look forward to 
the coming of the strangers as to deliverance ; but 
that monarch himself became penetrated with the 
conviction that his wealth and prosperity were to 
disappear in the course of his lifetime. )y 

This foreboding took possession of his mind and '■ ' 
undermined its peace; he became unhappy and 
brooded over his fate as he wandered among the 
gloomy cypresses of Chapultepec. He had con- 
sulted the wise Nezahualpilli before his death upon 
the meaning of the portents which pervaded the air, 
but from him he had received no consolation. The 
sage shook his head gravely, and when urged, con- 
firmed his fears by translating these prodigies as 
warnings of. the downfall of empires. 

It might well be that these things pervaded the 
air, for it was twenty-five years at the time of Neza- 
hualpilli's death since' Columbus had set foot on 
American soil. The strange apparition of white 
rnen armed with thunder and lightning, would be 



132 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

sure to spread from mouth to mouth and from nation 
to nation. The fleet-footed messengers of the Mex- 
ican king would be sure to bring such news along 
with fresh fish and fruit up from the shores of the 
Gulf. And while these things were more and more 
weighing upon the king's mind, there came the 
report, swift, certain, and not to be denied, that men 
in boats had landed by the river Tabasco. 

Twenty years after the discovery of the Antilles 
by Columbus, these islands were fully under the 
control of the Spanish. Cuba, the most important 
of them, was a flourishing colony, under the admin- 
istration of Diego Velasquez de Leon. 

In 15 17, three Spanish adventurers armed three 
vessels of discovery at Cuba. The governor Velas- 
quez joined himself to this enterprise. These ex- 
plorers discovered the eastern point of Yucatan, 
which they named Cape Catoche, after a wood which 
they heard spoken of by one of the natives. They 
were filled with amazement at the civilization of the 
buildings and the costumes, and hastened to land, 
but being received by a shower of arrows they as 
quickly went back to their boats. At Campeche 
they were received more kindly, and exchanged 
gifts with the natives. Later, Cordova, the leader 
of this expedition, was wounded in an encounter 
with the natives, and returning to Havana died ten 
days after. Velasquez heard from the others such 
an account of the wealth and resources of Yucatan, 
that he resolved to take possession of it. 

He sent out a little squadron in the charge of 
Juan de Grijalva, one of his relatives, to make 



THE LAST OF THE MONTEZUMAS. 1 33 

further explorations. They coasted along the shore 
of Yucatan, admiring its fertile fields and the cities 
and villages in the midst of them, soon arriving at 
the mouth of the Tabasco River. At first the 
natives seemed inclined to give them a rough recep- 
tion, but Grijalva propitiated them by friendly 
messages, and on disembarking met a brilliant recep- 
tion. Green copal was burnt before him, in the way 
of incense, and the natives brought him game, fish, 
and corn-bread. The prince made him a present of 
some gold necklaces and ornaments carved in the 
shape of birds and lizards. 

Grijalva and his followers came next into the coun- 
try belonging to the Mexican crown, and saw for 
the first time the royal standard of Montezuma, with 
the nopal and the eagle. They now for the first 
time began to hear of this great prince, and of the 
riches of Anahuac. 

Such were the tidings brought to the poor Monte- 
zuma, already depressed by vague forebodings. He 
received the news with positive anguish, as he con- 
templated the evidences of their power. Reporters 
at Tabasco had already prepared on great maguey 
canvasses graphic pictures of the ship of the 
strangers, their costumes and arms, which were hur- 
ried with telegraphic promptness to the great sov- 
ereign in his capital. 

The council was assembled. It met in dismay. 
Finally they decided to send to the shore an embassy 
laden with gifts of gold, feathers, and splendid stuffs, 
but bearing messages urging them not to penetrate 
farther into the country, where they would be ex- 



134 ^■^^'^ STORY OF MEXICO. 

posed to constant danger. The messengers were 
charged to lay great stress on the difficulties and 
perils of travel in these regions. Thus, while they 
tempted with one hand full of gifts, they repulsed 
"4 with the other. Temptation and warning were for 
the moment unheeded. When they reached the 
coast, Grijalva, who had no authority from Velas- 
quez to involve him in negotiations with the Aztec 
monarch, had sailed away. 



XIII. 

CORTES. 

Fernando Cortes was born in 1485 at Medellin, 
the principal town of the province of Estramadura, 
in Spain. His father was a gentleman of old blood, 
but poor. He sent his son to the University of Sal- 
amanca, but Fernando had no taste for study, and of 
his own will entered the army, with the intention of 
serving under the great captain Gonsalvo of Cordova 
in the campaign of Naples, but an injury caused by 
falling from a roof prevented his starting with the 
fleet. As soon as he was well enough he set off in 
quest of adventure for the West Indies, then a new 
and tempting discovery, and joined a relative in St. 
Domingo, who happened to be governor there. This 
was in 1504. He passed several years there, and in 
15 1 1 accompanied Diego Velasquez to Cuba when 
the latter was appointed to colonize that island. 

The contemporaries of Fernando Cortes draw an 
attractive portrait of him. He was well built and 
skilful in all manly exercises. The wonderful beauty 
of his glance enhanced the charm to his fine and 
regular features. With unequalled bravery he com- 
bined wonderful penetration which never failed him. 
He was eloquent and persuasive, with the faculty of 

135 



136 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

making himself beloved and respected by all who sur- 
rounded him, over whom he exercised an irresistible 
influence. His conceptions were vast ; he never re- 
nounced a project after he had recognized it as prac- 
ticable, but he tempered his audacity of design with 
an extreme prudence in execution. Reverses he en- 
dured with heroism, while he never suffered himself 
to be made giddy by his successes. The inviolable 
fidelity which Cortes preserved towards his legiti- 
mate sovereigns tempered his personal ambition, 
great as it was, and his love of money though 
great did not prevent his showing liberality when 
the interest of his glory demanded it. 

This is the bright side of the picture ; great defects 
of character tarnish it. His acts of cruelty towards 
his enemies, and his greed of plunder are not to be 
overlooked in forming an estimate of this wonderful 
man. 

Velasquez had already sent an expedition of dis- 
covery towards the west, and Grijalva, its leader, had 
entered the river of Tabasco, where he disembarked, 
but, feeling he had no authority to treat with the na- 
tives, he returned to report what he had seen and ask 
further instructions. 

Velasquez was displeased with Grijalva for this 
moderation, without appreciating a loyalty which he 
regarded as stupidity ; and excited by the accounts 
of the new country, he resolved upon another under- 
taking in the same direction. He sent to Spain to 
ask for wider powers, and to obtain for himself the 
government of the lands he expected to conquer. 
He offered the command of this expedition to sev- 



CORTES. 137 

eral of his relatives. They all refused it. It was 
then that he addressed himself to Fernando Cortes. 
There is a story that Cort6s was in love with a 
young lady named Dona Catalina Juarez, who after- 
wards became his wife, and that the governor, Velas- 
quez, also devoted to the Dona, subjected his bril- 
hant rival to a terrible persecution, and even had him 
seized and put in prison, that Cortes escaped and 
took refuge in the church, a few days afterwards he 
was again seized, and then incarcerated in a ship 
with a chain about his foot. Escaping in a skiff and 
afterwards by swimming he reached the shore and 
again hid himself in a sanctuary. In the end he 
married Dona Catalina, goes this tale, was recon- 
ciled with the governor, and made Alcalde of San- 
tiago de Cuba. 

However this may have been, Cortes received and 
accepted the commission now offered. His reputa- 
tion for bravery and great popularity gathered about 
him young and old, the bold spirits of Cuba, some 
among them former companions of Grijalva in his 
expedition ; Bernal Diaz, the first historian of the 
Conquest, Olid, Alvarado, and other men of the 
greatest bravery, destined to play great parts in the 
epic of the New World. 

Velasquez, even before the departure of his com- 
mander, began to distrust him, jealous again of his 
great powers, but they parted on good terms, and 
Cortes embarked at San Jago de Cuba on the i8th 
November, 15 18. He had not gone far when an 
emissary of Velasquez was sent after the expedition 
to arrest Cortes, but encouraged by his companions, 



138 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

who urged him to remain at their head, he sent 
off the messenger and started without taking any 
further notice of the jealousy of his chief. 

The squadron of Cortes was composed of eleven 
small vessels. There were 1 10 sailors, 553 soldiers, of 
which thirteen were armed with muskets, and thirty- 
two with arquebuses, the others with swords and 
pikes only. There were ten little field-pieces, and 
sixteen horses. Such were the forces with which 
the bold adventurer set forth to conquer a vast em- 
pire, defended by large armies, not without courage, 
according to the report of Grijalva. But the com- 
panions of Cortes were unfamiliar with fear. Cortes 
followed the same route as Grijalva. At Cozumel, 
an island off Yucatan, he learned by signs from the 
natives that white captives, with beards, had been 
lately seen by them. Cortes left a letter for these 
men with a boat and sOme soldiers, and the result 
was their finding a white man named Jerome d' 
Aguilar, whom they restored to liberty. He told 
them that he was a native of Ecija, in Spain, ship- 
wrecked in 15 1 1, seven years before. Thirteen of 
his companions escaped drowning and starvation, 
only to be exposed to the danger of being eaten by 
Mayas, from which also they escaped by the tolera- 
tion of a cacique, who treated them well. All the 
rest died but one, and this one refused to join Cor- 
tes, having a wife and children, his face tattoed, and 
wearing ear-rings. He preferred to continue in the 
way of life first forced upon him, but Aguilar gladly 
joined the adventurers, and proved a valuable acqui- 
sition, for though he knew but little of the country, 



CORTES. 139 

he had much to tell of the manners and customs of 
the people, and moreover served as interpreter, of 
which the commander was in sore need. During his 
long captivity, Aguilar had acquired the language of 
the country, and could now. bring Cortes into com- 
munication with its inhabitants. 

At the Tabasco River, which the Spanish called 
Rio de Grijalva, because that explorer had discovered 
it, they had a fight with some natives who resisted 
their approach. These natives fought bravely, but 
the fire-arms, and above all the horses, which they 
conceived to be of one piece with their riders, caused 
them extreme terror, and the rout was complete. 
According to Spanish tradition, the Christian sol- 
diers saw at the opening of the battle their patron, 
Saint James, mounted on a white horse, and fighting 
for them. This not only inspired them with bravery, 
but their adversaries with fear, so that they fled in 
alarm. The native prince, overcome, sent gifts to 
the conqueror, and, without much knowing the ex- 
tent of his agreement, acknowledged himself as vas- 
sal of the king of Spain, the most powerful monarch 
of the world. 

Cortes passed in this place Palm Sunday, urging 
Aguilar, who called himself a deacon of the church, 
to explain to the prince and the lords of the land the 
mysteries of religion, and to make them comprehend 
the vanity of worshipping idols. The anniversary 
was then solemnized, with high mass, received with 
grave reverence by the natives, much impressed by 
the ceremonies of the strange religion. 

Meanwhile a brief calm had settled over the court 



I40 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

and capital of Mexico. The white-faced strangers 
had left the coast, and it was to be hoped they 
might never come back. The nobles took up their 
train of pleasure and the common people went on 
with their peaceable, happy lives, floating over the 
canals with their produce-laden, flower-heaped boats, 
singing low chants of the past in a melancholy, minor 
key, peculiar to the Mexican music. 

But one day, in the end of March, 15 19, swift 
messengers came up the steep ascent between the 
tropical flat shore and the cool plateau of Anahuac, 
and demanded instant audience with the king. Mon- 
tezuma knew well what was coming. During, the 
interval since the departure of the white men, he 
had felt that it was only a respite, and that the terror 
of their presence was only a premonition of worse 
things to come. So he received the messengers with 
a calm smile, and simply said to them : " Speak." 
These messengers were wonderfully well informed. 
Without giving the precise details we now know, 
they could describe the conflict, the terror of the 
Tabascans, and above all the strange animals, unlike 
any thing they had seen before, which bore their 
riders into battle, perhaps, in fact, a part of the same 
machinery, turning, plunging, advancing as if by 
magic, and, as they thought, invulnerable to all 
weapons. Also the thunder and lightning of the 
new-comers was something supernatural, destructive 
flashes of fire under their control, accompanied by a 
bursting sound,, and followed by instant death. 

These tidings appeared incredible, yet must be 
believed, and, what was more, acted upon. The 



CORTES. - 141 

king, after due counsel with his advisers, resolved to 
send envoys, as before, to the strangers. The pres- 
ents prepared for Grijalva, which had reached the 
shore too late, were, alas ! all ready. To these were 
now added the ornaments used in the decoration of 
the image of Quetzalcoatl, on days of solemnity, 
regarded as the most sacred among all the possess- 
ions of the royal house of Mexico. 

Cortes accepted the role of Quetzalcoatl and al- 
lowed himself to be decorated with the ornaments 
belonging to that god without hesitation. ' The 
populace were convinced that it was their deity 
really returned to them. A feast was served to the 
envoys, with the accompaniment of some European 
wine which they found delicious. 

The adventurers landed on Good Friday, and 
celebrated Easter on shore with great pomp and 
solemnity. The intendant of the province brought 
offerings to the great stranger, and presents were 
exchanged. Cortes sent to Montezuma a gilt helmet 
with the message that he hoped to see it back again 
filled with gold. During the feast native painters 
were busy depicting every thing they saw to be 
shown to their royal master. The bearer of this 
gift and communication, returning swiftly to the 
court, reported to the monarch that the intention of 
the stranger was to come at once to the capital of 
the empire. Montezuma at once assembled a new 
council of all his great vassals, some of whom urged 
the reception of Cortes, others his immediate dis- 
missal. The latter view prevailed, and the monarch 
sent, with more presents to the unknown invader. 



142 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

benevolent but peremptory commands that he should 
go away immediately. Having sent off the messen- 
ger, poor Montezuma retreated to the depths of his 
palace and refused to be comforted, foreseeing that 
the great empire of Anahuac was about to fall. 

Meanwhile the Spanish camp was feasting and re- 
posing in huts of cane, with fresh provisions, in great 
joy after the weariness of their voyage. They ac- 
cepted with enthusiasm the presents of the emperor, 
but the treasures which were sent had an entirely 
different effect from that hoped for by Montezuma ; 
they only inflamed the desire of the Spaniard to have 
all within his grasp, of which this was but a specimen. 

It was now that the great mistake in policy was 
apparent, by which the Aztec chieftain had for years 
been making enemies all over the country, invading 
surrounding states, and carrying off prisoners for a 
horrible death by sacrifice. These welcomed the 
strangers, and encouraged their presence, thinking 
they might be valuable allies against the oppressive 
power of the tyrant. They made a dreadful mistake 
of course, for Cortes ruined all the native populations 
of Mexico, while he grasped at the wealth of Mon- 
tezuma; but the extent of his daring and powers 
were little imagined at his first coming. 

Cortes made himself captain-general of his forces, 
and established the site of Vera Cruz, the rich city 
of the True Cross. While reposing here, he was de- 
lighted to receive an invitation from the cacique of 
Cempoallan, " a very fat man, and an enemy of 
Montezuma," says the chronicle, to enter his do- 
mains as a friend, and visit his capital city. 



CORTES. 143 

The site of this city, a pueblo, is now unknown, 
one or two places being attributed to it. In fact, 
the route of Cortes from the coast to the interior has 
never been thoroughly traced. The account of the 
place and his reception in it by Cortes, is now 
thought to be greatly exaggerated ; doubtless the 
satisfaction of finding himself in a place of any com- 
fort, and in hospitable, hands, led him to depict the 
place with glowing colors. He accepted the invita- 
tion with alacrity, set forth for Cempoallan, delighted 
as well as were his men to leave the hot and sandy 
shores of the Gulf of Mexico for higher ground, 
fresher air, and finer climate. The next day they 
entered the city, where they were received as the 
avengers and liberators of an oppressed country. 
The first lords of the court, richly dressed, bearing 
superb bunches of flowers in their hands, came to 
meet them outside the town, begging Cortes to ac- 
cept the excuses of their sovereign's health, who 
would receive them at home, being obliged to give 
up the pleasure of coming out on account of his 
extreme fatness. 

The reporters of the time of the conquest describe 
Cempoallan as they do every thing else, with the 
glow of enthusiasm. They represent themselves 
amazed at the beauty of the streets, the dazzling 
whiteness of the houses, and the magnificence of the 
gardens. All the population came forth to await 
them, throwing flowers at their feet, presenting gar- 
lands and sometimes more valuable gifts. 

At Cempoallan, during his visit, Cortes learned of 
the existence of the republic of Tlaxcalla, hostile to 



144 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Mexico, and immediately resolved to avail himself 
of these people if necessary. He determined, in 
spite of the repeated requests of Montezuma that he 
should go away, to march to Anahuac, and person- 
ally visit the monarch, and he set forth from Cem- 
poallan on the i6th of August, 15 19, on his way to 
Tlaxcalla, — probably taking the road to Jalapa. 
Jalapa is an old town, over four thousand feet above 
the level of the sea, with a superb view of the lofty 
peaks of Orizaba and the Cofre di Perote, covered 
always with snow, rising behind hills and valleys and 
lesser mountains ; it is probable that the Spaniards 
regarded less the splendor of the prospect than the 
difificulties it presented to their passage. 

Before leaving the sea-coast, Cortes with great 
resolution destroyed the greater part of his ships by 
beaching them. This was to put an end to any 
scheme of retreat which might have sprung up in the 
breasts of discontented members of his party. Three 
months had now passed since he arrived in Mexico. 
The ships, with the exception of one of the smallest, 
were destroyed. There was no chance to turn back; 
and the conqueror boldly prepared for his enterprise. 

The body of men which he called his army was 
composed of 415 infantry, and 16 horses ; they took 
with them 7 cannon. With this handful of men 
he risked himself in a hostile country, inhabited by 
people wholly unknown to him in manner and lan- 
guage. He began by destroying his only means of 
escape, in case of defeat ; relying only on his own 
courage, and the devoted bravery of his little band. 



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XIV. 

MALINTZI. 

While Cortes and his followers are resting them- 
selves at Cempoallan, while Montezuma is awaiting 
their approach with superstitious dread, we will stop 
to make the acquaintance of the gentle woman who 
was so important to the daring invader of the heights 
of Anahuac. 

She was born at Painala, now a picturesque village 
buried in forests on the borders of the Coatzacoalco 
River, about 1502. This pueblo, as well as others 
in its neighborhood, belonged, it is said, to her 
father, one of the great vassals to the crown, then 
worn by Montezuma II. Thus the little duchess, 
for so she might be called, lived until her eleventh 
year, in ease and comfort. Then her father died, 
and her mother, marrying again, transferred all her 
maternal care and affection to a boy, the child of the 
new union. In order that this boy should inherit 
the family wealth and estates, reports were spread 
of the death of the other child. The body of a 
slave who had just died was substituted for the 
heiress, and the funeral celebrated with pomp. 
Meanwhile the disinherited girl was given over or 

145 



146 THE STORY OF MEXICO 

sold to travelling merchants, who in their turn trans- 
ferred her to the chief of the Tabascans, to whom 
she became a slave. In the Tabascan kingdom she 
grew up, and with her great intelligence acquired 
readily the Mayan language used at Tabasco with- 
out forfeiting her native tongue, that spoken at the 
Aztec court. 

Like the Aztec maidens of good birth, she had 
been carefully trained up to the time when she was 
abandoned to slavery. Her new position did not re- 
duce her to humiliating tasks, or forced labor, and 
she probably led a happy life in the soft climate of 
her new home, surrounded by trees always blossom- 
ing, rich vegetation, and new friends, who, although 
her keepers, were gentle and indulgent after the 
manner of the Mayan tribes. 

In 1 5 19, just as the pretty maiden was reach- 
ing her seventeenth year, Cortes arrived at Ta- 
basco. After the first fright of their coming was 
over, followed by futile efforts at resistance, the 
Tabascans were willing to make peace. A treaty of 
alliance was concluded, as we have seen, and with 
the gifts of the chief to the conqueror, came twenty 
young slave-girls, whose business it was to grind the 
corn to make bread for their new masters. Cortes 
at once ordered that these women should be taught 
the truths of the Christian religion, and among the 
rest the heiress of Pai'nala was converted by Aguilar, 
and baptized by her new name, Marina. Marina, for 
the Indians became Malina, as their tongues do not 
accept the R. Afterwards Cortes himself acquired 
the nickname of Malintzin, that is, the master of 



MALINTZI. 147 

Malina, and with them the word Malintzi, or Malin- 
che, has attached itself to her as well 

When the Spaniards again landed, a grave diffi- 
culty presented itself. Aguilar, the interpreter, 
knew Mayan, but not one word did he understand 
of the Aztec dialect now spoken. Suddenly one of 
the young women presented by the Tabascan chief 
was seen conversing fluently with the visitors who 
crowded round the boats of the new-comers. She 
was instantly summoned by the commander, and at 
once became very important as interpreter, translat- 
ing for Aguilar what he could easily render into 
Spanish. Through her was transmitted the first 
message of Montezuma to the dreaded white woman,. 
It makes a pretty picture — this graceful Aztec girl 
standing between the two parties : on one side the 
Indians, richly dressed, to impress the stranger, in 
robes of gay colors, adorned with feathers and orna- 
ments ; on the other Cortes, in the armor of the 
time, assuming all the haughtiness of demeanor 
possible ; grouped about him his band of stalwart 
followers, curiosity on their features, making up by 
their eyes for the uselessness of their ears, which 
were of no use to them for understanding what was 
going on.- The Aztecs speak and announce the will 
of their monarch. Marina, with intelligence in her 
glance, listens attentively, then with her grave smile 
reports the matter to Aguilar. Aguilar must have 
been in rags, for his long sojourn with the Indians 
had brought him to a low estate. He gathers the 
Mayan message from the lips of Marina translated 
from Nahuatl, and gives it in good sound Spanish to 



I4S THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the captain. His reply is conveyed by the same 
double interpreting back to the messengers. The 
substance of the colloquy is, on the part of Monte- 
zuma, a welcome, and lavish offering of gifts, through 
which appears his unconcealed anxiety to speed the 
parting guest. From Cortes the reply of scanty 
thanks for benefits received, and the determination 
to press on to the plateau. 

If we were allowed to believe good old Bernal 
Diaz, the visible testimonials of the conference 
needed no interpreter. The gifts of the messengers 
are described as splendid — shields, helmets, cuirasses 
embossed with pure gold ornaments, sandals, fans, 
crests of gaudy feathers interwoven with gold and 
silver threads, and strewed with pearls and precious 
stones. The helmet sent back by Cortes had come 
again filled to the brim with grains of gold. 

Two round plates of gold and silver, as big as 
carriage wheels, excited the most delight. The gold 
one represented the sun, and was richly carved with 
plants and animals. Where are all these things 
now ? So utterly disappeared that many people 
believe they only existed in the imagination of the 
chronicler of the Conquest. 

No wonder that such startling treasures proved 
an invitation more potent than the twice translated 
prayer to go away which accompanied them. 

The Spaniards were impatient to move at once. 
Cortes, charmed with the grace and intelligence of 
the young interpreter, encouraged her by every sign 
of favor, and she, young, forlorn, deserted, expanded 
under the warmth of his kindness and flattery. In 



MALINTZI. 149 

a very short time she acquired enough Spanish to 
interpret directly for her lord and master, who be- 
came the object of her intense adoration. 

Marina was very beautiful, according to the de- 
scription of the Spanish chroniclers. If she were at 
all like the descendants of her race, she wore, doubt- 
less, a white loose garment, embroidered in the 
square neck and sleeves with red ; her black hair was 
braided in two long tresses interwoven with pearls 
and coral. Her slightly copper-colored tint was 
clear enough for a soft play of rose in her cheeks ; 
her large soft eyes beamed, and her white teeth 
flashed as she smiled ; while, for the most part, 
her oval face remained grave, almost sad, in its 
expression. She was slight, graceful, with small 
hands and feet. 

From this time forward Malintzi was always at 
the side of the conqueror, aiding him not only as 
interpreter, but with her surprising vigilance, and 
perception of the tendency of events due to the 
knowledge of the natives. She was always full of 
courage, and had the endurance of a man, sharing 
all the sufferings of the little army with patience 
and even gayety. In fact, she had never been so 
happy before, and the hardships of the camp were 
nothing compared with the trials of her earlier life. 
She witnessed the slaughter of her countrymen with 
grief, and interceded always in favor of the con- 
quered ; but no thought of patriotism troubled her 
mind as she deliberately surrendered the land to the 
hands of its enemies. 

Later, Mahntzi lived to contemplate the ruin she 



I50 'J HE STORY OF MEXICO. 

had helped to make, in a time when she had outlived 
the brief happiness of her sojourn with the Conquis- 
tadores. But we will leave her now, full of joy, 
afTection, courage, the proudest, most useful of 
petted interpreters, in order not to anticipate the 
current of the story. 




XV. 

TLAXCALLA. 

As we have seen, the Httle province of Tlaxcalla 
was situated in an isolated position among the moun- 
tains, holding itself independent, and always hostile 
to the Confederates of the Valley, as the Mexicans 
and their allies are now called. The Conquistadores 
describe it as a formidable state, bearing the name 
of a republic, of ancient origin and advanced civili- 
zation. They speak of its capital as a splendid city, 
divided into four quarters, each governed by an 
hereditary chieftain, who exercised his authority 
over a number of dependent villages assigned to 
him. They give to the little repubHc, which con- 
tained scarcely fifty square miles, the dignity of a 
confederacy of four separate states with one common 
head. 

In this constant exaggeration we must remember 
that Cortes was in the hands of the interpreters, one 
of them Malintzi, who may have used the word for 
republic when she meant tribe, and splendid city 
instead of pueblo. We may allow ourselves to think 
that. 

The Tlaxcallans were an orderly, excellent peo- 
ple ; to gain the friendship of such a tribe was highly 
important to the Spanish conqueror. To their 

151 



152 THE STORY OF MEXICO, 

loyalty and good faith he applied the arts of his 
eloquence and bravery, and awaited at a distance 
the results of an embassy which he sent forward. 
There was a stormy discussion in the councils of 
Tlaxcalla, between the chiefs who welcomed allies 
against their great enemy, Montezuma, and those 
who feared the intervention of unknown warriors, 
come from afar, of whose intentions they had no 
means of judging. Those which prevailed were for 
a third course, by which a trap was laid for the Span- 
iards without implicating at first the Tlaxcallans. 

Cortes, impatient of delay, pressed forward with- 
out waiting for his answer, and found himself, Sep- 
tember 2, 1 5 19, before an army of Otomis, a tribe 
friendly to the Tlaxcallans, whom they had persuaded 
to attack the strangers, without mixing in the fight 
themselves. Cortes easily repulsed this savage band, 
and without pressing his advantage, again attempted 
negotiations with the republic ; but by this time a 
haughty message was returned to him that " the 
strangers which the sea had thrown up could come 
if they chose to the great city, to become sacrifices 
to the gods and served up at a sacred festival." 
Cortes, of course, was firm, and on the 5th of Sep- 
tember, 1519, took place the first real struggle 
between the army of the old world, which in this 
case appeared the new one, and the brave descend- 
ants of an ancient race. 

The Tlaxcallans, led by the young and brave Gen- 
eral Xicotencatl, fought bravely, but the result was 
in favor of the little band of Spaniards, after a hot 
contest of but four hours. The Tlaxcallans returned 



TLAXCALLA. 1^3 

to their city, and consulted their oracle. The head 
priest pronounced that their enemies were children 
of the sun, and invincible during the day, while their 
father was shining in the sky, but that by night they 
would lose their strength and be like other mortals. 

The next night, encouraged by this divine decree, 
an attack was made, but Cortes was on his guard. The 
enemy, who, relying on their priests, had imagined 
they were marching to certain victory, took flight, 
in abject terror. 

After this, the Tlaxcallans made no further re- 
sistance. Peace was solemnly concluded, and the 
republic recognized as a vassal to the crown of Cas- 
tile, pledging itself to sustain Cortes in all his ex- 
peditions. Mass was celebrated, and the conclusion 
of the treaty was an occasion of great joy. This 
alliance was absolutely important to Cortes. The 
Tlaxcallans remained to the end faithful to it ; later 
on, without their support, and their chief city to fall 
back upon, the conqueror must have inevitably 
failed in his enterprise. 

The Tlaxcallans consented to accept the God of 
the Christians, but were unwilling to give up their 
old protecting divinities for fear of appearing un- 
grateful to them. Cortes insisted upon the abolition 
of human sacrifices, and himself made a chapel in the 
palace assigned to him and erected in it the cross. 
The first mass celebrated there attracted immense 
crowds, and many natives, especially young girls of 
good birth, were voluntarily baptized. 

The Conquistadores entered Tlaxcalla the 22d of 
September, receiving demonstrations of the greatest 



154 7^^^^ STORY OF MEXICO. 

friendship. Here Cortes rested awhile, but only in 
order to cement his good relations, and to obtain in- 
formation how best to proceed. He himself is said 
to have been so ill from fever that he could hardly 
keep his seat in the saddle, but this man of iron 
habitually disregarded the troubles of the flesh. 

His next step was to Cholula, where he was re- 
ceived with apparent cordiality ; but Malintzi's vigi- 
lance discovered a plot for the destruction of the 
Spanish army. Cortes resolved to punish this treach- 
ery by an example. He collected all the principal 
Cholultecas in a large court, accused them of perfidy, 
and, without listening to explanations, put them to 
general slaughter, so that " in two hours," according 
to the letter of Cortes describing the affair, " per- 
ished more than three thousand natives." The body 
of the Tlaxcallans who had joined themselves to this 
expedition, gathered rich booty from it, and returned 
home well content with the prowess of their new 
ally. 

Cortes then issued a general pardon. Calm re- 
turned to the streets of Cholula, and the people of 
the surrounding villages poured in to do honor to 
the terrible conqueror. Emissaries from Mexico, 
who witnessed this bloody triumph, were not slow to 
describe it to their sovereign, who became more and 
more frightened and despairing. 

Cortes stayed two weeks in Cholula, before setting 
out again for Mexico. It was thus early that he re- 
ceived overtures of alliance from Ixtlilxochitl, king 
of a portion of Texcuco, who was in constant war- 
fare with his broth»r Cacamatzin. These young men, 



TLAXCALLA. 155 

it will be remembered, were nephews of Montezuma, 
who, in the quarrel between them had defended the 
cause of Cacamatzin, so that the neglected brother 
detested him. Like all the rest of Montezuma's 
kindred who played into the hands of his enemy, 
Ixtlilxochitl had later reason to regret his hasty 
recognitition of the stranger, who came to seize and 
adopt for his own every thing, regardless of small 
quarrels and petty animosities. This early alliance 
Avith one of the neighboring chiefs was of great ad- 
vantage to Cortes though he scarcely understood 
then its importance. 

Ixtlilxochitl sent ambassadors as far as Tlaxcalla 
to invite Cortes to pass through his territory on his 
way to Mexico. Cacamatzin, on the other hand, in- 
dignant at the disregard shown to the. wishes of his 
royal uncle by the Europeans, hastened to Texcuco, 
resolved to collect an army and declare war against 
them, but Montezuma, with a faithlessness not to be 
excused by his terror, himself set an ambuscade for 
his nephew, and handed him over to Cortes, who had 
him loaded with chains and imprisoned. 

Through the influence of Montezuma, Cortes al- 
lowed a third son of the late King Nezahualpilli to 
occupy his throne. This was Cuicuicatzin, twelfth 
king at Texcuco. He was loyal to the Spaniards. 
It would seem that he stayed by them even through 
the terrors of the nocJie triste ; and that returning 
to Mexico after that sad night, being considered, 
with sonie reason, to be a spy of the Spaniards, he 
was killed by the order of the successor of Monte- 
zuma. 



156 THE STORY OF MEXICO, 

Followed by a horde of Cholulans and Tlaxcallans, 
Cortes set out on his difficult journey across the pla- 
teau, impeded by tempests and sandstorms. The 
view they got of the fair valley of Mexico made 
them forget all their fatigues. At their feet were 
noble forests ; farther on they saw cultivated fields, 
and in the centre of an immense fertile basin the 
lakes, bordered with cities and villages ; in the middle 
of the panorama was the city, Mexico the Proud, 
resting upon its waters, and crowned with towers and 
pyramidal temples. Above the capital rose, on the hill 
Chapultepec, the favorite resort of the Mexican mon- 
arch, surrounded by its great cypresses. Farther off 
was seen Texcuco, not less fair than Tenochtitlan, 
and, round about all, the girdle of irregular moun- 
tains which enclose and form this incomparable 
picture, 

Cortes was seized with enthusiasm at the sight. 
This was his promised land. Boldly he pressed on- 
ward to success, in spite of his feeble means. 

At Ayotzinco, Cacama came forth to meet the 
strangers, King of Texcuco, loyal to Montezuma, a 
splendid young man of twenty-five, richly dressed. 
He brought presents for the invaders, but urged them 
even then to turn back. Cortes replied with cour- 
tesy but firmness that nothing would deter him from 
entering Mexico. " In that case," replied Cacama, 
" I will return to the court " ; and without any thing 
which could be considered an invitation, he withdrew 
with his suite. 

On the 8th of November the Spaniards found 
themselves on the great avenue leading to the capi- 



TLAXCALLA. 1 5/ 

tal. Here Montezuma came to meet them with the 
greatest splendor, of costume and retinue. Magnifi- 
cent carpets were spread on the ground, the monarch 
descended from his palanquin with a bouquet in his 
hand, supported on either side by his brother and 
nephew. Cortes approached him with respect and 
put about his neck a chain of gold ornamented with 
paltry colored beads. 

Montezuma, calm and dignified at this critical mo- 
ment, welcomed Fernando to his capital, where the 
gods had long announced his coming. Then he en- 
tered his palanquin again, leaving the two princes to 
escort the Spaniards to the palace he destined to re- 
ceive them. 

The adventurers followed with their eyes the royal 
cortege as it vanished along a wide street which they 
describe as lined with sumptuous palaces. No one 
was looking on in the streets, and the silence of 
death reigned in the city. By royal command the 
whole population abstained from coming out to wel- 
come these audacious intruders. 

Cortes understood the lesson, and it is said that 
he then and there made a vow, that if he should 
escape safely from this enterprise he would erect 
a church upon that very spot. 

He built in fact later the hospice and church of 
Jesu-Nazareno — in compliance with this vow. 



XVI. 



LA NOCHE TRISTE. 



The ancient palace of Axayacatl was prepared to 
receive the strangers, within whose walls were ample 
accommodations for the leaders of the little host. 

Cortes proceeded at once to explore the capital, its 
paved causeways and lagoons. He devoted himself 
to gaining the friendship of Montezuma, and strove 
to incline him to embrace the Catholic religion and 
become a subject of the king of Spain. The bewil- 
dered king listened to these persuasions, transmitted 
to him through the lips of Malintzi-Marina, with 
amazement and dread. He scarcely understood 
the import of the words, and the doctrine of the 
Cross, thus suddenly presented to him, was only a 
puzzle. Cortes had but little patience with his pu- 
pil. His own situation was full of peril, in the midst 
of a large population who showed no cordiality tow- 
ards the Spaniards. He resolved upon the bold 
measure of seizing the person of Montezuma. 

Having found a pretext for a visit, Cortes waited 
on the monarch in his palace. An audience was 
readily granted. He was graciously received by 
Montezuma, who entered into light conversation 
through the interpreters, and gave little presents 

158 



LA NO CHE TRISTE. 1 59 

to the Spanish general and his attendants. He 
readily listened to the complaints brought by Cor- 
tes against certain caciques who had killed some 
Spaniards. Cortes then coolly suggested that it 
would be better for Montezuma to transfer his resi- 
dence to the palace occupied by the Spaniards, as 
a sign to his people of his perfect confidence, as well 
as a proof to the king and master of Cortes that he 
was loyal to the strangers. 

Montezunia listened to this proposal with looks of 
profound amazement. He became pale under his 
dark skin, but in a moment his face flushed with 
resentment ; and he utterly declined the proposal. 
The visit was prolonged in discussion and persua- 
sion, always gentle on the part of Cortes, but one of 
his companions, Velasquez de Leon, to cut short the 
matter, proposed seizing the king, with such fierce 
note and gesture, that Montezuma, alarmed, asked 
Marina what had been said. She strove to explain 
the exclamation in a gentle fashion, and besought 
him so tenderly to yield, that the poor king finally 
consented to quit his own palace and allowed him- 
self to be led away. With their sovereign thus in his 
power, Cortes, with his wonderful tact and resource, 
might have succeeded in his plan of peaceably subju- 
gating the Mexicans, but unfortunately at that time 
he had to leave the capital for Vera Cruz, where Nar- 
vaez, an emissary from the governor of Cuba, had 
just landed, with directions to dispossess Cortes of 
his command. The affair took only a little while, 
for Cortes surprised the new-comer in his own quar- 
ters at Cempoallan, routed him entirely, and carried 



l6o THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

off to join his own troops the forces sent against 
him from Cuba, a very timely addition, especially 
the horses, of which he was greatly in need. 

This despatched, he returned in all haste to Mex- 
ico, which he had left in the hands of Don Pedro de 
Alvarado, whose unflinching bravery was spoiled by 
his cruel and sanguinary temper. Entirely lacking 
the good judgment of Cortes, he had in his absence 
involved the Spaniards in ruin. The month of May 
had arrived, in which the Mexicans were accustomed 
to hold a great festival in honor of Huitzilopochtli. 
By this time, the supremacy of the Spaniards had 
become so established, through the weakness of 
Montezuma that they asked the permission of Alva- 
rado to have it. He consented, but in the middle of 
the night, when they were all assembled in the tem- 
ple, unarmed and carelessly engaged in dancing and 
the festive ceremonies of the occasion, Alvarado en- 
tered with fifty Spaniards and in wholesale destruc- 
tion killed them all. The population arose, and 
when Cortes came back he found Alvarado and the 
army besieged in their quarters and at the point of 
being overcome by the enraged populace. 

Cortes, in dismay, disgusted with the folly of his 
lieutenant, knew not how to escape from its result. 
For several days the Mexicans attacked the Spaniards 
in their head-quarters. Cortes made several sallies 
and engaged in terrible combats with compact masses 
of the natives, but always had to retreat to his quar- 
ters, with losses that daily diminished his small army. 

At last he persuaded Montezuma to ascend to the 
azotea, a flat roof of the palace, in order there to ad- 



LA NO CHE TRISTE. l6l 

dress his subjects and exhort them to suspend the 
attack. With repugnance the humbled monarch 
yielded, and emerged on the parapet. Opposite to 
him, he could easily discern animating the crowd Avho 
surged below, Cuitlahuatzin, his own brother, ac- 
cording to custom the general in chief, and probable 
successor to the throne. 

Montezuma was clothed in his imperial robes; his 
mantle of white and blue flowed over his shoulders, 
held together by a rich clasp of green stone. Emeralds 
set in gold profusely ornamented his dress. The 
royal diadem was on his brow, and golden sandals on 
his feet. He was preceded by the golden wand of 
of^ce, and surrounded by a few Aztec nobles. His 
presence was instantly recognized by the people, and 
a sudden change came over the scene. A death-like 
stillness pervaded the whole assembly, so that the 
voice of the monarch was distinctly heard. He ad- 
dressed the people mildly, but when they found that 
he was urging mercy toward the stranger, the calm 
was turned to fury, the populace redoubled its cries 
and threats, and arrows and stones were aimed even 
at the Emperor, one of which wounded him fatally 
in the head. 

The unhappy prince was borne to his apartment 
below. He had tasted the bitter cup of degradation. 
It may have been the simple effect of the wound, or 
his despair, which determined him to tear off the 
bandages, or, as the Aztecs think, a Spanish dagger 
which finally despatched him. Not many days after 
this supreme insult by his people, he died on the 
30th of June, 1520. 



1 62 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Due respect was shown to his memory ; his body 
was committed to the charge of his subjects, and 
borne by nobles, it is said, to Chapultepec, to be laid 
among the tombs of his ancestors, under the sad 
aJincJiuetcs. At least, this is the received account. 
A Mexican story says that on the night of the de- 
parture of the Spaniards the corpse of the monarch 
was dashed to pieces, by his enraged people, upon a 
tortoise of stone which stood in a corner of the pal- 
ace of Axayacatl. And here, say the indios, wan- 
ders the melancholy spirit of Montezuma, under the 
gloomy cypress, restless and unable to sleep the 
sleep of death, lamenting the lost Tenochtitlan and 
the happy days of the Aztecs. Here comes also 
Malintzi, whom, when she meets him, the sad shade 
accosts : " Why, Malintzi, didst thou betray me to 
the stranger, why didst thou plead with me for his 
cause ?" 

And the other sighs and wrings her hands and 
asks herself the same vain question. 

There are other shadows, too, that frequent the 
moss-hung alleys of Chapultepec, but these are creat- 
ures of a later day and unheeded by the sorrowful 
phantoms of the victims of the Conquest. 

As this is the story of the Mexicans, and not of 
the Conquest only, and as moreover that period of 
Mexican history is fully elsewhere described, we 
must pass slightly over the continued adventures of 
Cortt^s. 

When the adventurer saw that the presence of the 
monarch had produced no good effect upon his sub- 
jects, he withdrew to head-quarters, and after a con- 



LA NOCHE TRISTE. 163 

sultation with his captains, resolved to abandon the 
city and to cut a passage for himself and his army, 
through the enraged assemblage of his enemies. 
This difficult and dangerous task was effected on 
the night of July i, 1520. 

It was impossible to conceal so great a movement 
from the Mexicans. As soon as they became aware 
of it, they attacked the little army on its march, de- 
stroyed bridges before them, while suddenly the 
lagoons were covered with canoas from which show- 
ered arrows upon the Spaniards. Many soldiers were 
killed or drowned. They set out loaded with booty 
which they had seized in their palace, and their treas- 
ures impeded their progress, so that every Spaniard 
had to choose between abandoning these precious 
objects or saving his life. Quantities of gold and 
precious things according to the report, were thrown 
into the canals. 

Cortes, himself under a thousand dangers, suc- 
ceeded in effecting his escape from the city to a spot 
where, under a large tree, he threw himself down to 
rest, and there reviewed the whole extent of his mis- 
fortune, recognized the loss of his most faithful and 
bravest companions, and faced the maimed condition 
of the last of his army. Tears came to the eyes of 
the bold commander, and for a moment all his vigor 
and energy abandoned him. 

Some few of his companions, however, were left to 
him. Alvarado, on whom rests the real blame in this 
disaster, had escaped by a miraculous leap across a 
breach in the causeway which it was necessary to 
pass. Pressing his long lance firmly on the bottom 



164 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

of the shallow lake, strewed with wrecks of every 
sort, he-sprang across the chasm to the amazement 
of the beholders. Several others were there, and 
above all, Marina was safe in the hands of some 
Tlaxcallans who had faithfully protected her. 

This fearful escape is called universally the Noche 
triste. The tree under which Cortes sat and wept is 
a venerable cypress still alive. It has been in per- 
fect health until a few years ago, when a fire was 
lighted underneath it, by some foolish pic-nic party, 
which burned into its huge trunk. Since then an 
iron railing has been put up to protect it. The pic- 
turesque old Church of San Esteban stands near it. 
It is at Popotla, a suburb of the modern city easily 
attained by tram-cars, through crowded modern 
streets, where nothing is to be recognized of the 
calzadas of the Aztecs. The line of houses is broken 
in one place on the way to Popotla by a space shut 
in with a low wall and iron grating. Here, says tra- 
dition, is the very point in the causeway where 
Alvarado leaped the breach. As there is no indica- 
tion nor tradition of the actual width of the chasm, 
our wonder is without any limit. 

Cortes did not allow himself time to repose or 
despair. As the dawn broke he mounted his horse, 
and gathering together such stragglers as he could 
find, he led them out into the country to the Cerro 
of Otoncalpolco, now the Sanctuary de los Remedios. 
Here, weary and discouraged as he was, he attacked 
with his little band the natives who were defending 
the teocalli there was there, and drove them out. In 
this shelter he took care of his wounds and those of 



LA NO CHE TRISTE. 1 65 

his men, and united the dispersed remnants of his 
army. 

This sanctuary is now the abode of an image of 
the Holy Virgin, of which the legend is that it was 
brought to Mexico by one of the soldiers of Cortes, 
and that during the first stay of the Spaniards in 
Tenochtitlan it was permitted to be set up in a shrine 
of the great teocalli among the Aztec gods. It was 
carried thence on the fatal Noche triste, by its pos- 
sessor, when he sought shelter in this very temple 
with the rest of the shattered Spanish army. And 
there he left it hidden under a maguey, being too 
sorely wounded to carry it farther, where it was 
found and m.ade an object of veneration. 

The accounts of losses in this conflict are varying. 
According to our present authority, the Spaniards 
lost four hundred and fifty men, twenty-six horses, 
and about four thousand allied Indians. On the 
Mexican losses it is impossible to speculate, but the 
artillery and firearms of their enemies must have 
made frightful havoc in the crowds of people who 
swarmed through the streets during the night. 




XVII. 



CONQUEST. 



The Mexicans drew a long breath after the de- 
parture of the enemy. It is true their emperor was 
ignominiously slain, covered with the contempt and 
scorn of his own subjects. His two sons, whom Cortes 
carried with him as prisoners, perished in the flight. 
The streets ran with blood and were strewn with 
corpses. The beautiful city was defaced, the cause- 
ways shattered, the bridges destroyed, and many of 
the houses burnt down. But it was freed from the 
odius presence of the stranger, who they imagined 
would never return. In fact the Aztecs conceived 
him and his army to be absolutely annililated. They 
set about restoring their tumbled down gods to their 
places, and contemplated appeasing Huitzilopochtli 
for the indignity with which he had been treated, 
by a new course of sacrifices. 

Cuitlahuatzin, brother of Montezuma, was elected 
emperor. He had fought valiantly in the struggle, 
and shown heroic courage in driving Cortes from the 
capital, which it was his determination to enforce. 
He began the slow task of gathering the army to- 
gether, and bringing order out of confusion, but a 
few days only after the great battle, he was attacked 

i66 



CONQUEST. 167 

hy small-pox. This disease, never before known 
among the Aztecs, was one of the misfortunes be- 
queathed to them by the Spaniards. A negro, who 
had just come up with Cortes, on his return from 
Vera Cruz, one of his recruits belonging to Nar- 
vaez, had the malady, and died of it, spreading con- 
tagion in the capital. 

Cuahtemoc succeeded, the thirteenth and last 
king. He was of a different stock, the sons of Axa- 
yacatl all being destroyed, of the family of the 
friendly kings of the little neighboring state of 
Tlaltelolco. He embraced with enthusiasm the 
cause of his country, and attacked vigorously the 
work of restoration. He was but little more than 
twenty years old. 

The tranquillity of the capital was but brief. In 
less than a week rumors came that the terrible white 
warrior was not killed, but alive, strong and deter- 
mined as ever. Many of the Aztecs conceived him 
to be immortal, and it is scarcely to be wondered at. 
Cortes had gathered together the little remnant of 
his army, who crept along a winding route north of 
the city absolutely ignorant of their way, and what 
they might encounter. When light came, so that 
they were observed, stones and arrows Avere aimed 
at them by chance natives from above. For several 
days and nights they slowly advanced, living on the 
few ears of maize they found ; for all provision was 
carried off from the deserted villages they passed 
through by the inhabitants as soon as they saw them 
approach. Cortes was always brave, cheerful, and 
even encouraging in these dark days. In this toil- 



1 68 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

some march seven days were passed, and then they 
came upon the strange pyramid of the sun and 
moon, at San Juan Teotihuacan, supposed to be the 
work of the earhest dwellers upon Anahuac, older 
than the Toltecs. These they make no mention of 
in their narrative, and we may well suppose they 
scarcely noticed them, for a sight more impressive 
and awe-inspiring soon after met their eyes, as they 
turned the crest of a ridge they had been climbing, 
— a full-fledged army stretched out before them, 
filling up the valley of Otumba, and giving it the 
appearance of being covered with snow, for the 
warriors were dressed in white cotton mail. 

Cuitlahua had lost no time. As soon as he heard 
of the survival of the invader's army, he wasted not 
a moment. No puerile fear, no fatalistic paralysis 
restrained his understanding. Ably seconded by 
the warriors of the army, now roused to the import- 
ance of the occasion, he gathered a noble army. 
Every chief took the field with his whole force, and 
in a wonderfully short space of time a large army 
was collected and marched against the fugitives, 
having learned their course among the mountains. 

The Spaniards were but a handful, and the few 
Tlaxcallans who were with them increased the force 
but little. Gathering themselves together, they 
dashed directly into the midst of the Aztec army, on 
their horses, with the intention of cutting themselves 
a path through the ranks. Flight, and not conquest, 
was their only thought. They were soon surround- 
ed, but defended themselves desperately. Several 
hours had passed, when the chief of the army was 



I/O THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

seen advancing on a litter, richly dressed, with 
plumes upon his head, a mantle of feather-work, and 
the banner of Tenochtitlan floating from his shoul- 
ders. Around him, to protect his sacred person, were 
a body of young warriors, richly dressed. It was a 
shining mark, and Cortes sprang towards it on his 
charger. Coming down upon the prince, and over- 
turning his bearers, he struck him through with his 
lance and threw him to the ground. One of his 
men sprang from the saddle, seized the banner, and 
gave it to Cortes quick as a flash. It was all over 
in a moment. A panic ensued. The whole Mexi- 
can army fled in confusion, convinced that they 
fought against odds too great, human skill against 
the power of the immortals. 

The Spaniards followed up the flying army, killing 
right and left, and then returned to the battle-field 
to gather up booty from the rich costumes of the 
dead and wounded left upon the field. This was 
the famous battle of Otumba, one of the most extra- 
ordinary in history, fought on the 8th of July, 1520. 
This encounter at Otumba is regarded by Baudelier 
as grossly exaggerated. He reduces the number of 
the attacking army to a much smaller proportion, 
but does credit to the bravery of Cortes and his men. 
He considers the episode, the fall of the standard- 
bearer deciding the. fight, as completely in accord- 
ance with Indian modes of warfare. 

Whatever remained to tell the melancholy tale 
came back to the capital. The inhabitants were 
filled with their old terror, but Cuahtemoc retained 
his courage, and only made more vigorous exertions 



CONQUEST. I'jl 

than before, seeing that his work was not only to 
restore the capital, but to prepare the country for 
another conflict. He collected great stores of corn 
in the warehouses, fortified all the places he consid- 
ered exposed to attack, shattered the calzadas, or 
causeways, and got ready a large fleet of canoas. 
He worked with all diligence, for he was kept well 
informed of the proceedings of the enemy, and knew 
that Cortes had arrived safe within the boundaries 
of Tlaxcalla. And, indeed, before the end of the 
year the renewed attack began. 

The distance from Otumba to Tlaxcalla was short, 
and the Spaniards were not further interrupted. The 
returned Tlaxcallans were received at home with 
great honors, and in spite of the disasters of the 
Spaniards, they remained faithful to the stranger. 
Cortes reposed among them, recovering from his 
own wounds, and giving his companions time to 
rest and refresh themselves. Meanwhile, he was 
forming new projects and drawing closer the bond 
of friendship with his hosts. The wise old Maxix- 
catzin, his first friend and constant supporter, died 
at that time, but the other Tlaxcallans continued 
their favor. 

By December, only six months from his return to 
Tlaxcalla, Cortes had succeeded in making a new 
army of respectable proportion. Ixtlilxochitl now 
ruled undisturbed over the whole of Texcuco, after 
the death of his brothers, who had resisted the cause 
of the invaders. He was the fourteenth and last 
monarch of his country, of which he was the greatest 
enemy, fatal to it as well as to his own race and 



1/2 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

family. From the beginning a prudent ally of Cor- 
tes, after the retreat of the Spanish army to Texcuco, 
he sent him renewed offers of aid, and raised a large 
troop of soldiers for the invading army. Without 
them and other indigenous bands Cortes would have 
been badly off. Thus increased, his new army reached 
the reputed number of two hundred thousand men. 
With these he came to Texcuco, by two days' march, 
halting at a little village at the base of Iztaccihuatl, 
the companion volcano of Popocatepetl, which, 
stretched like a corpse in its shroud of everlasting 
snow, bears the name of the White Woman. The 
Spanish army entered Texcuco on the last day of 
the year, December 31, 1520, and here was con- 
ducted to the palace of Nezahualpilli, a building 
spacious enough to accommodate all the Spaniards. 
The town, as on his first entrance at Tenochtitlan, 
was deserted, and Cortes learned that whole families 
were leaving in boats and by the mountain paths. 
A weaker heart might have sunk at the repetition 
of such intimations of dislike, but the Spanish con- 
queror's heart was inflexible. Ixtlilxochitl received 
him with all cordiality, and presented to him the body 
of fifty thousand men he had raised, a substantial 
gift, which was in itself encouraging. 

It was a great advantage to Cortes to have Tex- 
cuco for his head-quarters. He had caused to be 
made in Tlaxcalla thirteen brigantines for crossing the 
lake. These were put together after his arrival and 
launched upon the water, through a little stream 
which had to be enlarged by the work of thousands 
of Indians, which led from the gardens of Nezahual- 



CONQUEST. 173 

coyotl to the lake. These brigantines, constructed 
in part of the timbers of his own ships which he had 
left scuttled at Vera Cruz, supplemented by quanti- 
ties of native canoas, made a respectable fleet. Dur- 
ing these preparations Cortes was bringing the whole 
neighborhood into his control, either by conquest or 
negotiation. As we have seen, the Mexicans were 
by no means beloved by the smaller powers. It was 
not until the lalter part of May, 1521, that the reg- 
ular siege of the city of Mexico began. , The first 
division of the army was given to the formidable 
Pedro de Alvarado, called by the Mexicans Tona- 
tiah, which means the sun, or all powerful. The sec- 
ond division was assigned to Christobal de Olid, and 
the third to Gonzalo de Sandoval. These three were 
all his trusty companions, who had shown them- 
selves from the first as daring, as enduring, as in- 
vincible as himself. Only in the characteristics of 
superior forethought, judgment, and tact did Cortes 
exceed them. To himself he reserved the conduct 
of the brigantines upon the lake. 

The whole campaign against Mexico lasted eight 
months, while the siege proper was maintained for 
eighty days. The Spaniards attacked time and 
again with their artillery, and slew thousands of 
Mexicans. They penetrated even to the heart of the 
capital but were driven back. Cortes himself, and all 
his captains, ran several times great risk of being slain 
or taken prisoners. The native allies could not be, 
or were not, restrained from plundering and burning 
houses and killing men, women, and children. 

Upon the lake the brigantines besides assisting 



1^4 ^'^a'A- Sl'O/iY OF MEXICO. 

the land attack, mastered and sank the canoes of the 
enemy in great numbers. The temples were burned ; 
the new images of the gods, put in place since the 
first sack of the teocalli, were thrown down and hus- 
tled into the lake ; whole streets were demolished, 
and with their ruins the canals were filled up. 

Cortes made various propositions of peace to 
Cuahtemoc, but the brave young monarch, in spite 
of the hunger which reigned in the besieged city, the 
multitude of corpses heaped in the streets, although 
he saw before him the inevitable ruin of his kingdom, 
was unwilling to surrender until the supreme mo- 
ment came when further resistance was impossible. 
On the 13th of August, 1521, Cuahtemoc was con- 
cealed in a piragua, or boat, leaving the attack, in 
order to command elsewhere. His presence there 
was suspected and the boat followed. Just as the 
pursuers were aiming their cross-bows, a young war- 
rior, fully armed, rose and said, " I am Cuahtemoc, 
lead me to your chief." On landing, he was escorted 
to the presence of Cortes, who was stationed on an 
azotea where he could survey the combat. Marina 
was by his side as interpreter. Cuahtemoc ap- 
proached with a calm bearing and firm step, a noble, 
well-proportioned youth, it is said, with a complexion 
fair for one of his race. Without waiting to be ad- 
dressed he said : " I have done my best to defend 
my people. Deal with me as you will," and touch- 
ing the dagger in Cortes' belt, he added, " Despatch 
me at once, I beseech you." 

The wife of the captive king was now sent for ; 
she was one of the daughters of Montezuma, and of 



CONQUEST 175 

wonderful beauty it is said. The captive pair were 
treated with kindness, rest and refreshment offered to 
thern. 

It was the hour of vespers when the Aztec mon- 
arch surrendered. This was the end of the contest. 
During that night a tremendous tempest burst on 
the fallen city of Tenochtitlan. Thunder and light- 
ning shook the shattered teocallis and levelled them 
to the groundi. The elements finished what the Con- 
quistadores had begun, — the ancient city of the Az- 
tecs was in ruins. 

After the surrender of Tenochtitlan, Cortes with- 
drew to Coyoacan, still a picturesque old town in the 
suburbs of the modern city. There he remained 
while the capital was rebuilt. It is said that he gave 
a banquet to his captains in honor of the victory 
they had achieved, an occasion made genial by some 
good wine which opportunely arrived just then at 
Vera Cruz. The house he occupied with Marina, is 
still to be seen on the northern side of the plaza of 
the little town. Over the doorway are carved the 
arms of the conqueror, much obscured by repeated 
coats of whitewash. In the church-yard is a stone 
cross set up on a little mound, said to have been 
placed there by Cortes himself. His first labor was 
to cleanse the city and dispose of the dead, then to 
clear away the ruins in order to erect new buildings. 
The Spaniards were greatly disappointed not to find 
vast treasures belonging to the Aztec crown, which 
they were convinced were somewhere concealed. To 
his everlasting dishonor Cortes allowed Cuahtemoc 
to be tortured by putting his feet in boiling oil, in 



176 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

order that he might reveal where such treasure was 
to be found. The king of Tlacopan was tortured 
also for the same object, but with no result. Both 
victims were of opinion that the precious objects so 
coveted by the Spaniards, if they existed at all, must 
have been thrown into the lake, but the Spaniards 
explored in vain the bottom of the shallow expanse 
and found nothing. If such treasures were there, 
there they still remain. 

The country was put under military rule, although 
the Mexican chiefs were allowed to retain their titles 
and nominal authority. Cortes assumed the titles 
of Governor, Captain General, and Chief-Justice, in 
all of which he was later confirmed by the King of 
Spain. He had next to make sure of the subjuga- 
tion of the other tribes of Anahuac. He organized 
expeditions and embassies to all the peoples there- 
abouts, and among others to Michoacan, where, as 
we have seen, was a kingdom of strength and power, 
which had never surrendered to the Aztecs. Tan- 
gaxoan H., when he heard of the conquest of Mex- 
ico, awaited his own turn with terror. Cortes at first 
sent a peaceful ambassador, led by a soldier named 
Montano, who returned after some dangers with a 
detailed account of the wonders of Calzonzi — the 
name given this monarch by the Spaniards. Shortly 
afterwards- Christobal de Olid was sent out with sev- 
enty horses and two hundred foot soldiers; this force 
was sufficient to subjugate the monarch and make 
him swear allegiance to the King of Spain. After- 
wards Calzonzi came to Mexico on a visit to 
Cortes ; he beheld with amazement the ruins of the 



CONQUEST. 177 

great city which he had never seen in the days of its 
splendor. The destruction of his hereditary rival 
gave him much to reflect upon, and hastened his 
willingness to accept the religion of the Conquista- 
dores. In his ancient capital of Tzintzuntzan there is 
a pathetic picture, crude and of course not ancient, 
which depicts the Tarascan king accepting the cross. 
During the rule of Cortes, Tangaxoan lived peace- 
fully, enjoying the nominal control of his vast king- 
dom. In the course of three years, Cortes greatly 
extended the dominion of Castile in New Spain, as 
it was then called ; for all his conquests were of 
course referred to his sovereign, Charles V. of Spain, 
to whom from time to time he sent presents of gold, 
specimens of the wealth of the new possessions. His 
power extended as far as Honduras, where Christobal 
de Olid was put in power. At a safe distance from 
his chief. Olid conceived the foolish idea of asserting 
his personal control, and made himself king of the 
colony. Olid lost his life in this attempt ; and Cort6s 
determined to go himself to Honduras. It was on 
this expedition that, without knowing it, he passed 
close to the ruins of the serpent city, Nachan, now 
Palenque. But, as we have seen, Cortes was more in 
the way of making ruins on his own account, than of 
regarding the mighty ones wrought by time ; and 
had he known of the existence of the city, it is doubt- 
ful whether he would have stopped to cut away the 
massive growth in which it was concealed. In Izan- 
capac, a Tabascan town, Cortes suddenly ordered the 
death of the three royal captives of Anahuac, whom 
he had brought thus far with him, perhaps for this 



1/8 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

purpose. On the charge of a conspiracy to restore 
the Aztec rule, they were hung upon a ceyba tree, — 
Cuahtemoc, and the kings of Tacuba andTexcuco, — 
all denying any thought of conspiracy. 

This was the sad end of the life of Cuahtemoc, the 
last of the Aztec kings. The rest of the native chiefs 
died off gradually, so that in a few years, all the old 
governments of the country were obliterated. Few 
of the other states discovered by the Spaniards made 
resistance, and none of them any thing like that of 
the Mexican. Remains of various uncivilized tribes 
retreated to the sierras or the deserts of the north, 
where they continued for generations in perpetual 
war with the white race. 

During the remainder of his life, Cortes made sev- 
eral voyages to Spain to defend his interests and 
arrange his affairs. In Mexico he employed the 
greater part of his time and fortune in the discovery 
of new lands in the neighborhood of Jalisco and the 
western coast. Finally, considering himself neglected 
and overlooked, he returned to Spain to make one 
more attempt at recognition at court. He was but 
coldly received by his sovereign. His time had gone 
by. The wonders of Peru had eclipsed the glory of 
the Mexican Conquest. He was taken ill, perhaps 
as much of disappointment as disease, and withdrew 
to Seville ; afterwards to a small town in that neigh- 
borhood, Castilleja de la Cuesta, where he died on 
the 2d of December, 1547. His body was carried 
thence in great state and buried in the chapel of 
the Dukes of Medina Sidonia. But Cortes had 
ordered in his will that his bones should be brought 



CONQUEST. 179 

in ten years time from his death to Mexico, and this 
wish was fulfilled, and the remains were interred at 
Texcuco. On the 2d of July, 1794, the bones of the 
great Conquistador were placed in a marble sepulchre 
which had been prepared for them in the church of 
Jesu-Nazareno, which he had founded himself. 
Even then they did not rest, for in the first years of 
the revolution, so great was the popular hatred of 
everything Spanish, safety required that they should 
be hidden ; they were secretly removed, by the or- 
ders of the heirs of Cortes, and by last advices, they 
are now at rest in Italy, in the vaults of the Dukes 
of Monteleone, his descendants. 





XVIII. 



DONA MARINA. 



During the two years occupied, with varying 
fortunes, in the conquest of Mexico, Cortes was 
always accompanied by Malintzi, who was indeed 
indispensable to him as interpreter. Her tent was 
always near that of the commander. His lieutenants 
treated her with consideration and respect, always 
giving her the title of Dona. 

Through his reverses, and on the terrible Noche 
triste, it is said, that Malintzi never lost her courage. 
She was put in charge of some brave Tlaxcallans, by 
Cortes, who could not have her with him at the 
head of the fray, and their devotion brought her 
through the wild confusion of flight. 

The long struggle over, Cortes, as we have seen, 
went to live at Coyoacan. Dona Marina was with 
' him. 

Now she is happy. Her hero rules triumphant 
over millions of men. She lives in a palace, with 
her guards, her maids of honor, her pages, and es- 
quires. The long, sad days of her youth of slavery 
are at an end, she has resumed her rank. She has a 
son, baptized under the name of Martin Cortes, 
whom she tenderly loves, and with this child and 

i8o 



DOI^A MARINA. l8l 

his father, now at peace with all the vast empire 
he has conquered for his sovereign, she passes a 
tranquil, happy life. 

Suddenly, to break in upon this dream, comes the 
news that Dona Catalina Juarez Cortes has landed 
at Vera Cruz, and is approaching the capital. 

Very likely Cortes had forgotten to mention his 
marriage to Marina. Perhaps he had forgotten it 
himself.^ But the reader will remember Dona Cata- 
lina, the cause of the jealousy of Velasquez in the 
early days of Fernando's career. It is said that his 
first ardor for her cooled off after a time, and that 
the marriage would never have taken place but for 
the persistence of the Dona. It was not happy, and 
the adventurer sailed away, without regret for the 
cheerless home he left behind in Cuba. 

Her name was never mentioned during the long 
period which passed between the landing of the 
Spaniards and their successful establishment in 
Mexico. But the deeds of Fernando Cortes were 
known to all the world, and especially sounded 
about in the island whence he set out. Dona Cata- 
lina, with every right on her side, set out to join her 
recusant spouse, encouraged by Diego Velasquez, 
who saw with no pleasure the continued triumphs of 
Cortes. 

Bernal Diaz says that Cortes hated his wife, but he 
dared not bring down upon himself the wrath of the 
Church by ignoring her, and Dona Catalina was re- 
ceived on her arrival with all the honors due to the 
wife of the great conqueror. She made a splendid 
entrance into the capital, and at once stepped into 



1 82 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the position of head of his household, and succeeded 
to the homage of maids of honor, pages, and es- 
quires. 

MaHntzi withdrew, persuaded of the necessity by 
the good father Ohnedo, who baptized her, trained 
her in the Christian faith, and now, in the hour of 
trial, stood by her side. 

Dona Catalina was not destined to enjoy long her 
new state. The air of the lofty plateau did not suit 
her constitution, accustomed to the lower atmosphere 
of Cuba. She died suddenly. 

At Coyoacan there is a tale that Dofia Catalina was 
drowned by her husband, and the well is even 
shown to tourists into which she is supposed to 
have been thrown. This legend is probably of later 
date than the time of her death, but even then 
rumors arose that it had been a violent one, and re- 
ports were rapidly circulated about Cortes likely to 
injure his reputation and, moreover, that of the 
Malintzi. 

At that time Cortes was thinking of a return to 
Spain. He was thirty-five, still young enough' to 
thirst for a full recognition at home of his great 
deeds. While making his preparation for departure, 
he heard of the insurrection of his lieutenant Olid in 
Honduras, who had declared himself independent. 
It was necessary for him to hasten at once to chastise 
his boldness. Aguilar, the interpreter, was dead, and 
Cortes, who had never troubled himself to acquire 
the Mexican dialects, had to send for Marina to ac- 
company him, as interpreter only. This caused the 
rumors about the death of his wife to circulate more 



DOfJ'A MARINA. 1 83 

than before. Cortes, warned of the danger, took a 
decisive step to silence all such insinuations. At 
Orizaba, he caused the sudden marriage of Marina 
with one of his officers, Don Juan de Jaramillo. 

Poor Marina was required to carry her devotion, 
her absolute obedience to her chief, to the extreme 
point of marrying a man she scarcely knew. She 
yielded. It is said that she never lived with her 
husband, but withdrew at once to her birthplace, at 
Pai'nala, where her own family still lived ; that her 
guilty relatives threw themselves at her feet, afraid 
that she would have them destroyed by the Spaniard. 
She forgave them, and passed the rest of her life 
far away from the capital, in obscurity. She died 
young, when Cortes was yet at the height of his 
fame, before he had suffered the mortification of 
seeing himself overlooked by the court of Spain. 

Not long after the expedition to Honduras, Cortes 
carried out his intention of crossing to Spain. On 
this first visit he was, as we have seen, received with 
acclamations, and loaded with praise and honors. 
When he again entered Mexico, with the title of 
Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca, he brought with 
him a Spanish bride. Dona Juana de Zufiiga, daughter 
of the second Count of Aguilar, and niece of the 
Duke de Bejar. 

So Malintzi, if her shade returns to wander under 
the ahuehuetes of Chapultepec, has her own grief to 
mourn, in addition to the ruin she helped to bring 
upon her people. 




XIX. 



INDIANS. 



The Conquest was complete. Tenochtitlan was 
no more, and the Aztec kings with their dynasty 
were blotted out. So were all the other independ- 
ent states of Anahuac, for if here and there a petty 
chieftain were allowed still to call himself lord of his 
domains, it was a mere form, to keep him and his 
people contented, while in reality the Spaniard con- 
trolled every thing throughout the conquered land. 
The terrible war gods were overthrown, their tem- 
ples and images thrown down and hidden under 
ground. Even the annals of the country, the 
picture-writings, which the Spaniards imagined to 
be impious scrolls connected with the heathen belief 
of the savages, were destroyed. Before long distinc- 
tive names of the separate tribes were wiped out, as 
details of no importance, and all the native races of 
the country went by the common title of Indies. 

This of course is the Spanish word for Indians, with 
the same source. Columbus in seeking a new world 
believed that when found it would be India, little 
thinking that the earth he had rightly guessed to be 
round, was big enough to contain a whole continent 
between the western shore of Europe and the Indies, 

184 



INDIANS. 185 

a remote land almost fabulous for its riches and 
precious stones. 

The first natives Columbus encountered in the 
Western World, he therefore naturally called Indios, 
and this name attaches to all the indigenous tribes of 
America. So the first settlers farther north, on the 
shores of the Atlantic, called the red men who came 
to meet them Indians. But the Red Men of the 
north are a distinctive race from the Indios of Ana- 
huac. Ifallied at all, they are but distant relatives. 
Their color, their skulls, their brains, their manners 
and customs are all different. As we have seen, the 
Nahuatl tribes that migrated from Aztlan belonged, 
with scarce a doubt, to a people antecedent to the 
Red Indians of North America. 

Nevertheless, the word Indian is so fixed in the 
minds of most of the people of the United States, as 
belonging to the savage of the tomahawk and war- 
whoop, that it is rather common to fancy the Mex- 
ican Indios to be of the same stock. Many a reader 
of Prescott's " Conquest " has been surprised to find 
that the natives who were terrified at the approach 
of Cortes on his war-horse, were not first cousins to 
the Mohawks and Algonquins whom Parkman has 
described. 

It is necessary to dwell on this, in order that any 
fair opinion should be formed of the native races of 
Anahuac, belonging to the different tribes of Indios, 
descendants of Tarascans, Otomies, Zapotecs, Mex- 
tecs, Mazahuans, Popolocs, Zotzils, Mayas, etc., 
which now form a large part of the population of 
Mexico. 



1 86 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Whatever are or have been their virtues, they are 
wholly different from thoseof theNorth AmericanRed 
Man. Whatever their vices, they are equally so, or if 
similar, similar on account of like conditions of life. 
Climate, inheritance, and the vicissitudes of their for- 
tunes, would have caused them to be somewhat dif- 
erent by this time, even if they had come from a com- 
mon stock, but this is absolutely not the case, and long 
before the time of the Conquest, the characteristics 
of the Nahuatl race, which still cling to their present 
descendants, were as strongly marked as those of the 
Red Man, while they were widely remote from them. 

The indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, however, 
have as good a right to the name, wholly unappro- 
priate in either case, of Indian, as the " North Amer- 
ican Savage " has. This latter title would be totally 
misapplied in connection with the native Mexicans, 
because for long generations, these have been above 
the level of wild men. After the Conquest, for years 
the Spaniards were disturbed by remaining savage 
tribes who, resisting civilization, had retreated to the 
woods and mountains ; but these tribes have been 
long exterminated. Their successor, the highway 
robber of roads and mountain passes, was of another 
breed, imported, with other products of civilization, 
from old Spain. 

The Aztec dynasty, then, was extinct, but the 
Aztec nation, a large population, even after the 
great diminution in the wars of the Conquest, re- 
mained on the plateau to begin a new life under the 
influences of Christian rulers. The horrid rites of 
their old religion were utterly done away with, relin- 



1 88 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

quished, it would seem, with no great regret, by the 
common people. To them there had been no glory, 
no gratification, in the wholesale slaughter of the 
sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli. The part of their cere- 
monies which appealed to their source of enjoyment 
was the feasting and dancing, and general rejoicing 
on such occasions. 

The first government of the Spaniards was a mili- 
tary one, whose chief was Fernando Cortes. He 
had wisely surrounded himself by a body of advisers 
or approvers, in the early time of founding Vera 
Cruz when he established the Ayu7itamiejito, com- 
posed of his companions of the voyage. This organ- 
ization was maintained during the time of Cortes' 
administration. Its duties were to found new cities, 
parcel out lands and farms among the colonists, es- 
tablish markets, regulate sanitary conditions, and en- 
force the laws ; thus standing between the natives and 
new settlers, who began to enter the country. Many 
of the rules and ordinances of the early Ayunta- 
mientos are still in force. 

On account of complaints which reached the court 
of Spain, against the rule thus established by Cortes, 
the king resolved to put the new country in the 
hands of a body of magistrates who should be obeyed 
by all the governors of provinces, representing the 
person of the monarch and enforcing his authority. 
The members of the first Aiidiencia arrived in Vera 
Cruz on the 6th of December, 1528. There were 
five of them ; their president was Nuno de Guzman, 
a cruel and sanguinary man, whose despotism left 
the most bitter recollections throughout the country. 



INDIANS. 189 

With his oidores, as the other members were called, 
he displayed the greatest cruelty toward the Indians, 
in direct disobedience to his instructions, which were 
to treat them with the greatest gentleness ; he con- 
tinued the traffic in slaves, by which he and his 
Audiencia expected to enrich themselves. They 
quarrelled with the ecclesiastics and religious orders, 
so that they were excommunicated by the bishop, in 
return for which they broke up by force a religious 
procession in the streets of the capital. In short, 
they made themselves intolerable alike to natives 
and colonists. Nuno de Guzman, finding himself 
thus unpopular, went away from Mexico in 1529, and 
paid a' visit to Michoacan, where he strove to extort 
quantities of gold from Calzonzi, who, as we know, 
had hitherto escaped the violence of the invaders, 
and was living happily in his palaces of Tzintzuntzan 
and Patzcuaro, nominal sovereign of his Tarascans, 

Calzonzi could not or would not satisfy the greed 
of the cruel Guzman, whereupon he was burned 
alive, as is shown in the same picture where he em- 
braces the cross, in the town-hall of Tzintzuntzan. 
Nuno went away without any treasures or precious 
stones, and made war upon the natives of Jalisco, 
founding in that country a town which he called the 
Holy Ghost. This afterwards became Guadalajara, 
now one of the finest cities in the whole of Mexico. 

This career of destruction and tyranny came to an 
end by the arrival of the second Audiencia, sent in 
response to the volume of complaints which reached 
the court of Spain. This second body had for its 
task to undo all that the first had done. 



190 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

It published a royal decree which declared all the 
Indians free, and condemned to death all those who 
had made slaves of them. It had the care of diffus- 
ing instruction among the natives, and establishing 
the teaching of Latin in a college founded for the 
education of the natives. Its authority was used 
only for beneficial ends, and was of good effect in 
calming the agitation caused by its predecessors. 
The archbishops and bishops, by their religious 
character, also exercised a great influence over both 
colonists and Indians, with whom they were objects 
of veneration and respect. 

Complaints, however, still reached the court of 
Spain, which, weary of so much dissension, resolved 
to send a viceroy as the supreme head of the colony, 
to represent in every thing the person of the king, 
subject only to the orders received from home, and 
controlling all affairs, civil and military, connected 
with the government. Difficulties often arose from 
quarrels between the viceroy and the Audiencia, and 
in extreme cases the will of the latter prevailed, 
while advices from the parent government were on 
their way from Spain ; but in general the functions 
of the Audiencias were from this time limited to the 
simple administration of justice. 

The country of New Spain, at the time of the 
the arrival of the first viceroy, had a wide extent ; 
large tracts at that time unknown, were afterwards 
explored and included in its territory, through colo- 
nization by settlers. These lands extended over the 
immense prairies of the north, and included Texas, 
Alta California, Louisiana, and New Mexico, which 
now belong to the United States. 







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XX. 

THE FIRST OF THE VICEROYS. 

Antonio DE Mendoza, Conde de Tendilla, was 
the first viceroy sent by Charles V. to New Spain. 
He arrived in the autumn of 1535. 

He belonged to the great Spanish family of 
Mendoza, which counted twenty-three generations, 
and claimed descent from the Cid himself. Better 
than this, he had a well-balanced and moderate char- 
acter, and governed the country with justice and 
generosity combined. He had no intention of 
enriching himself by his position, but at heart put 
the interests of the Spanish colonists before every 
other consideration, except those of the Indians, for 
whose welfare he had from the first a genuine re- 
gard. It would seem that Charles V., harassed as 
he was with the intrigues and difficulties of his own 
empire, already revolving the design which he put 
in practice later, of retiring from the world, had 
himself selected for his first representative in the new 
country a man whom he knew personally to be 
equal to the task, one not only of noble blood, but 
honorable character. 

Mendoza set himself to reform the abuses which 
had already appeared, protected the Indians from the 

191 



192 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

humiliations which the newly arrived Spaniards were 
disposed to put upon them ; he stimulated all 
branches of agriculture, and finding the natives were 
already well informed in the cultivation of land, he 
encouraged them in this pursuit by all possible 
efforts. 

In order to develop the growth and manufacture 
of wool he caused sheep of fine breed to be brought 
from Spain ; he encouraged the silk industry, and 
all employments coming from the productions of the 
earth, which the climate of Mexico greatly favors. 

Before his arrival the Franciscan brotherhood had 
founded several convents. As early as 1521 Cortes, 
after the conquest of Tenochtitlan, had sent home 
an urgent request that priests should be sent from 
Spain to convert the heathen in the new province. 
For Cortes, through all his undertaking, earnestly re- 
garded his mission as a crusade against the unbe- 
liever ; he never hesitated to destroy the temples 
and gods of the Aztecs, and his first step after vic- 
tory was to forcibly baptize all his prisoners and 
the inhabitants of conquered cities into the Christian 
religion. 

As soon as the knowledge of so wide a field was 
noised abroad, five missionaries of the Franciscan 
order started for New Spain. One of them was Fray 
Pedro, of Ghent, a nation of Flanders, who of all the 
early missionaries in Mexico was the most able and 
zealous. He was especially endeared to the Em- 
peror Charles V. on account of the holiness and 
usefulness of his life, and from him he was greatly 
aided in his work by grants of land and sums of 



THE FIRST OF THE VICEROYS. 1 93 

money. Later twelve missionaries were sent out by 
order of the Emperor, and protected by a Bull from 
the Pope. These " twelve apostles of Mexico," as 
they are usually called, arrived in 1524. Their 
leader was Fray Martin de Valencia, who bore the 
title of Vicar of New Spain. 

To the religious orders in Mexico is due in great 
measure the firm base upon which the government 
of Spain was established there. The new vice- 
roy fully recognized this, and encouraged the foun- 
dations of colleges and schools already undertaken 
by them. 

In every way he promoted the prosperity and 
growth of the country, and had the satisfaction in 
the course of his government, which lasted fifteen 
years, to see every thing bear the marks of his judg- 
ment and enterprise. 

It was he who founded two cities which have 
reached great importance. The first was Guadalajara, 
near the site where Nuno de Guzman had estab- 
lished a town under the name Espiritu Santo, in the 
state of Jalisco. Mendoza removed it from its first 
situation to the one it now occupies. It has become 
one of the largest and most flourishing cities in 
Mexico, and at the present time it is one of the 
most interesting, because, as it has been until very 
lately remote from railroad communication, it has 
preserved all the early characteristics of Spanish- 
Mexican civilization which attended its foundation 
and first growth. There may still be seen many 
customs and peculiarities of old Spanish life, which 
are fast disappearing from the Peninsula, The citi- 



194 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

zens are well educated, highly cultivated, with the 
manners of the pure hidalgo, and the houses contain 
relics and mementos of the past of Mexico, such as 
are nowhere else to be found. 

Mendoza also founded the city of Valladolid, in 
the late kingdom of Michoacan, of which the poor 
King Calzonzi had lately been sacrificed to the 
greed of Nufto de Guzman. This latter received the 
just punishment for his cruelty. He was imprisoned 
in 1537, and shortly after died, "in misery and ob- 
livion," says the chronicle. 

The large province of Michoacan, now one of the. 
states of Mexico, called by the same name, stretches 
from the state of Mexico to the Pacific ocean. It 
contains some of the most beautiful scenery to be 
found in the whole country, now revealed by the 
National Railway, which runs from the city of 
Mexico to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, and 
farther on to Patzcuaro. The ultimate destination 
of the road is Colima, near the Pacific coast. The 
country of Michoacan was peopled by Tarascans, 
who, as we have seen, preserved their kingdom until 
after the Conquest. They have always been known 
for their sturdy independence, like other moun- 
taineers, for their state is traversed by ridges of lofty 
hills, making picturesque effects of scenery. It was 
in suppressing the Indians of Michoacan and the 
neighboring Jalisco that the ferocious Pedro de Al- 
varado received a blow, from which he died in 1541. 

Mendoza the better to civilize these turbulent 
tribes, chose a site for a city in the midst of their 
population. The royal parchment exists, sent froni 



THE PIRST OP THE VICEROYS. 19$ 

Spain by Queen Juana, under the date of October 
27, i537j in which permission is given to the vice- 
roy — " Insomuch as I am informed by the relation 
you have made to me, that in these lands you have 
found or discovered a most beautiful site towards 
the part of the Chichimecas, in the Province of 
Michoacan, in which, as it is a place both attractive 
and convenient, you wish to establish and found a 
city with more than sixty Spanish families and nine 
religious advisers, for this purpose acknowledging 
the service of God and of the Royal Crown, we give 
and concede faculty and license to the viceroy, Don 
Antonio de Mendoza, to establish and people the 
said city." 

The day being fixed for the ceremonial of found- 
ing the city, all the pueblos in the neighborhood 
were summoned, and a great conference of people, 
both Indians and Spaniards, assembled to listen to 
the royal mandate, which was read aloud. Then the 
commissioners and the governors of the Indios 
kissed the parchment in sign of obedience ; a mass 
was celebrated upon an altar, which had been im- 
provised for the occasion under a canopy made of 
the branches of trees, for the ceremony took place 
in the open air. Thereupon followed festivities, 
which lasted several days; the plan of the city was 
laid out, and lots assigned to the " more than sixty 
families," who took possession at once. 

Among the lists of these families, of which the 
names remain, is Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 
a connection, we may assume, of the viceroy. Other 
noble families were later sent to occupy the new 



196 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

city, SO that Valladolid had every reason to hold 
itself high as a town of distinction. 

It was named Valladolid after the birthplace of 
Mendoza in Spain, and called always Valladolid de 
Michoacan, in distinction from the town in the old 
country, until the name was changed, in this century, 
to Morelia, for reasons we shall understand better 
further on in the story. 

It is hard to account for the presence in Mexico 
of the " more than sixty families," and many, many 
more which served as nucleus for all the cities 
founded by the Spaniards. In the prosperous con- 
dition of Spain at that time, when the empire of 
Charles V. was at the greatest period of glory, it is a 
question to solve why any noble families took the 
trouble to risk a perilous voyage, in those days long 
and, to say the least, uncomfortable, in order to 
make a new life in the recently conquered colony. 
Doubtless the reports given by t'he Conquistadores 
of the great wealth of the new land attracted many 
adventurers, who left their country for their country's 
good, thus seizing a short cut to wealth ; but this 
does not account for whole families, in numbers 
sufficient to settle city after city over the newly 
grasped possessions in the. hands of the viceroy. 
Religious liberty was not the motive, for here the 
strong arm of the Church was stretched as firmly as 
at home. As early as 1527 a royal order was issued, 
by which all Jews and Moors were banished from 
New Spain. The Inquisition was established in 1570, 
but although the auto da fe was of frequent occur- 
rence during two centuries, the institution never 



THE FIRST OF THE VICEROYS. 1 9/ 

flourished with the vigor it acquired in the old 
country. 

The city of Valladolid flourished exceedingly. Its 
native population to this day has the reputation of 
being industrious, docile, and self-restrained. While 
moderate, at the same time true to heroism, jealous 
of independence and liberty, restless under oppres- 
sion, but easily led by gentleness and reason. The 
character of the Spanish families is hospitable, their 
manners open and attractive, while at the same time 
they are exclusive and tenacious of their birth, posi- 
tion, and religious belief. 

■ The church of Michoacan was created by a bull of 
the Pope Paul III. in 1536. The queen of Spain de- 
creed that a cathedral should be constructed in a 
suitable place, to be selected by the viceroy and the 
good Bishop Vasco de Quiroga, who was known as a 
friend of the Tarascans. 

Among the members of the second Audiencia, 
which retrieved by its wisdom the evil deeds of 
Nuno and his assistants, was an eminent lawyer, 
the Licenciado Vasco de Quiroga. As the proceed- 
ings of Guzman were fresh in everybody's mind, he 
heard of them, and at once went into the neighbor- 
hood of Tzintzuntzan to relieve, if possible, the con- 
dition of the people of Calzonzi. They had fled in 
terror from their homes, deserting the towns and 
hiding in the mountains. Quiroga, with great per- 
severance and gentleness, found them out, and pre- 
vailed at last upon the poor Tarascans, who came to 
love him with passionate devotion. He lived among 
them until 1536, when he was made their bishop, 



198 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

having been quickly passed through the successive 
grades of promotion necessary for that purpose, for 
he was, to begin with, a layman and not under 
orders. While still oidor of the Audiencia he as- 
sumed the cares of his ofifice ; by the end of the 
same year he had received all the necessary orders, 
from the tonsure to the priesthood. 

The city of Tzintzuntzan was first selected for the 
foundation of the cathedral, as the pueblo of the 
largest population thereabout. It is now a forlorn 
Indian village, with straggling rows of adobe huts 
running down a slope towards the lonely Lake 
Patzcuaro. Pottery is made there by the simplest 
methods from clay which abounds in the neighbor- 
hood ; the people are ignorant, gentle Indians, pur- 
suing their humble lives with the content which 
characterizes the native Mexican. But behind an 
orchard of large old olive-trees neglected and decay- 
ing, is the parish church, which contains a wonderful 
picture, so wonderful as to be startling among such 
incongruous surroundings. In the sacristy, and 
lighted by one little window with small panes of 
glass, is a large and impressive canvas, representing 
the entombment of our Saviour. Surrounding the 
dead Christ are the Virgin, the Magdalen, St. John, 
and other figures, all life size. One of the figures in 
the background is said to be the bishop of Philip II., 
and tradition asserts positively that the picture is by 
Titian. The composition, grouping, and treatment 
are certainly like Titian, especially the introduction 
of a bit of landscape in the upper left-hand corner. 
It is possible that the picture is by the great master; 



THE ElRST OF THE VICEROYS. 1 99 

even if not, the interest attaching to it is great, for 
it is beautiful, whoever painted it, and far beyond, as 
well as utterly different from, many of the altar 
pieces and " old masters " which abound in Mexico 
without any value whatever. It is possible that 
Philip II. sent the picture, or more likely that before 
his time Charles V., who personally knew Quiroga, 
and possibly loved him, caused the picture to be 
sent him for his Indians by reason of his devotion 
to them, and the eloquence with which he reported 
their cause to his royal master. This would account 
for its being in the little church at Tzintzuntzan, 
where the documents say Quiroga was bishop only 
for one year. If Charles sent the picture, the like- 
ness of Philip was taken before he had come to the 
throne, and was only Prince Imperial. As for its 
remaining at Tzintzuntzan, instead of finding a fit 
place in the cathedral of Morelia, the Indians have 
in every generation absolutely refused to have it re- 
moved. It would be a brave archbishop, or secular 
authority who should endeavor now to take it away 
from them. Unguarded, it hangs in the bare little 
sacristy, safe and uninjured by irreverent touch. 

The cathedral was begun at Patzcuaro, and was to 
be, says the account, " so magnificent that it has en- 
tirely filled the imagination of all those who can re- 
member it." But it was decided that the ground it 
was on was too near the lake to support so great a 
structure. In 1550 the king of Spain sent to com- 
mand a suspension of the works, and it was finally 
built at Valladolid, where it now stands, a beautiful 
building, superior to the cathedral in the city of 



^OO THE STORY Ol-' MEXICO. 

Mexico. It was only completed in 1744. It stands 
in an open space between two plazas, where the ef- 
fect of the two lofty well-proportioned towers is 
uninterrupted by other buildings. The Mexicans 
delight in church bells, and the towers of the Mo- 
relia cathedral are well provided with them, great and 
small, for all occasions. On a feast-day of the Church 
these bells are ringing continuously, filling the air of 
the town with their joyous clangor. 

Cortes was away when the Viceroy Mendoza 
arrived in Mexico. He still retained his title of 
governor, with the same powers always conferred 
upon him ; but his long absences from the capital 
made it necessary, as he fully recognized, that some 
other strong authority should be established there. 
Nevertheless, he never got on very well with such 
other authorities, and on his return soon became at 
odds with Mendoza, who, in his opinion, interfered 
with his prerogatives. It was then that Cortes bade 
farewell to his family, and taking with him his eldest 
son and heir, Don Martin, then eight years old, he 
embarked for Spain, leaving Mendoza undisturbed 
in the execution of his ofifice. 

It is evident that the rule of the viceroy was 
judicious and well adapted to grafting a new civiliza- 
tion upon the old. The native tribes were made 
peaceable without a great deal of contention, and by 
the adroit and gentle management of the viceroy, 
ably helped by the religious orders who came to his 
assistance, readily transferred their old beliefs to the 
mysteries and miracles of the Roman Catholic faith. 

There was genuine enthusiasm for the viceroy on 




CATHEDRAL AT MORELIA. 
20I 



20i THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the part of the Indians. On the Central Railway, 
about five hours out from the city of Mexico, is a 
station called Cazadero, which means " place for pur- 
suing game." The name clings to it since 1540, 
when an immense hunt took place there upon the 
broad plain which stretches out in all directions. 
This hunt was a pleasant attention from the Indians 
to the viceroy to express their approval of his ways 
with them. 

In 1536 was issued the first book printed in Mex- 
ico, on a press imported by Mendoza, and put into 
the hands of one Juan Pablos. In the same year 
both silver and copper coins were stamped, the lat- 
ter in the form of an irregular polygon. In 1550 
this good ruler sailed away from Mexico, where he 
had done so much to advance the interests of his 
royal master. He passed on to take charge of the 
government of Peru, by a practice which came to be 
quite common — a sort of diplomatic succession by 
which the viceroys of New Spain were promoted to 
the post at Peru. 




XXI. 



FRAY MARTIN DE VALENCIA. 



Don Luis DE Velasco, second viceroy of New 
Spain, made his entrance into the capital with great 
pomp, at the end of the year 1550. He, like his 
predecessor, had been selected with care by the or- 
ders of Charles V., if not from his personal knowledge, 
and he brought to his new position qualities as ad- 
mirable. His first decree was one liberating one 
hundred and fifty Indians from slavery, who were 
working chiefly in the mines, and when the objec- 
tion was raised that this industry would be para- 
lyzed by the step, he stated that the liberty of the 
Indians was of more importance than all the mines 
in the world, and that the rents due to the crown 
were not of such a nature that for them must be 
interrupted laws human and divine. 

He established in Mexico, for the security of trav- 
ellers upon the highway, the tribunal of the Holy 
Brotherhood, instituted in Spain for the same pur- 
pose in the time of Isabella. He founded the Royal 
University of Mexico, and the Royal Hospital for 
the exclusive use of the natives. He recognized 
the capacity of these Indians for developing lands 
hitherto uncultivated, and, in fact, favored them 

203 



204 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

by every means in his power, while he encouraged 
the development of all the resources of the country, 
especially the mines, of which some important discov- 
eries were made in his time. 

The building of the cathedral at Puebla was 
pushed with great activity under this viceroy, al- 
though the building was not finished until the mid- 
dle of the next century. 

Puebla de los Angeles, second in importance in all 
Mexico to Guadalajara only, receives its name from 
the tradition that before the light of Christianity 
was shed on New Spain, the heathen used to see 
visions of angels marshalled in mighty hosts in the 
heavens above the spot where the city stands. It is 
in the Province of Tlaxcalla, where Cortes found his 
first friends and stanch allies, on the highway be- 
tween the coast and the capital. 

Of the founding of the city a local chronicler 
writes that the illustrious Fray Julian Garces, the 
first bishop who came to Tlaxcalla, fully shared the 
project for establishing a town somewhere in these 
parts that might be a resting-place in the long and 
weary walk from the coast to the city of Mexico ; 
yet he was uncertain in his mind as to where the 
town had best be, until one night in a vision he be- 
held a most lovely vega, a plain, bounded by the 
slope of the great volcanoes on the west, broken by 
two little hills, and dotted by many springs, and cut 
by two rivers which gave abundant water, and made 
all things fresh and green. And as he gazed in 
pleased amazement, the dream revealed two angels, 
who with line and rod were measuring boundaries 



\ 



206 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

on the ground, as if they were marking out the 
place for streets and squares, and for the founding 
of great buildings. 

Upon this the bishop awoke, and luckily coming in 
his search upon the very site that his vision had 
shown him, chose it for the place of Puebla de los 
Angeles. 

The city is beautifully situated with fine views of 
the volcanoes ; the pyramid of Cholula is eight miles 
from it. It is a purely Spanish town, founded at 
the earnest request of the Franciscan friars, who en- 
treated to be allowed to make a town of Spaniards, 
who should cultivate the earth in the manner and 
fashion of Spain, without the assistance of Indian 
labor or the unworthy practice of Indian slavery, 
thus giving employment to many Spanish good-for- 
nothings who were going about the country without 
finding any thing for their hands to do. 

The second Audiencia, in whose time the request 
was made, readily granted it, and the city was 
founded in 1532. Forty families of Spanish birth 
assembled, and the plan of the city was marked out, 
accompanied by the celebration of mass, as at Val- 
ladolid. The Indians of the surrounding; towns wil- 
/■ lingly helped the Spaniards in great multitudes, 
bringing them materials for the first houses, and 
singing joyfully as they gave their assistance. 

Puebla is so placed with regard to the capital that 
in the frequent battles of the country it has been 
time and again fought for or invested. During 
these periods it is to be feared that its angels have 
been sometimes compelled to avert their faces. Its 



FJ?AV MARTIN DE VALENCIA. 20/ 

present name is Puebla de Zaragoza, in honor of the 
brave general who defended it against the French, 
on the 5th of May, 1862. 

Thus the efforts of the viceroys were ably sec- 
onded by the zeal of the first ecclesiastics of the 
church of Mexico. Fray Juan de Zumarraga was 
the first bishop presented by the emperor to Pope 
Clement VII., in 1527. The next year he arrived at 
Vera Cruz, bearing the titles of bishop-elect and 
protector of the Indians, honors which he fairly 
earned by his interest in them and his devotion to 
their cause. 

These holy men worked zealously with the natives 
and by adroitly substituting for their heathen super- 
stitions, the legends and miracles of the Catholic 
Church succeeded in engrafting the new faith upon 
the old without violence. The Indians accepted 
readily the narration of the life of the Saviour, his 
miraculous power, his spotless life, his death upon 
the cross, but their favorite object of worship and 
reverence was from the first the Holy Virgin, the 
mother of Jesus. To her they transferred all the 
fervor of their idolatry. Her image has always 
been to them most sacred, her shrine the constant 
place for votive offerings of flowers, ribbons, and all 
small objects of familiar use. To the superstitious 
minds of these people, it was possible to introduce 
every form of miracle without danger of incredulity; 
they were soon closely bound to the Church by their 
faith in the supernatural interference of the heavenly 
powers, and above all of the Virgin. These supersti- 
tions still remain in Mexico, and are so closely held 



208 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

by the Indians, that no government, however " ad- 
vanced " in reHgious thought, has dared to interfere 
with certain rites and ceremonials, pieced upon their 
ancient garment of faith, in the earliest time of the 
first viceroys and bishops. The " twelve apostles," 
godly men who devoted their lives to Christianizing 
the Indians, have themselves become objects of 
tradition, and their deeds, as handed down from 
generation to generation, are as miraculous as any of 
those they revealed in their day to the simple and 
credulous Aztecs. 

Of all the Apostles the memory of good Fray 
Martin de Valencia is most highly valued, and many 
are the traditions concerning his life and works. 

An early history of- the Indians of New Spain, 
written in 1541, tells of his life in Amecameca, an 
Indian village several hours by rail south of the 
capital, which still preserves all the simplicity of its 
earliest days. It was in existence long before the 
Conquest. The Spanish army stopped there a couple 
of days on their first approach to the city, kindly 
received by the Cacique in " large commodious stone 
buildings." Of these latter we must doubt. Near 
here. Fray Martin loved to dwell "because," as the 
narrative relates, " it is a very quiet place, most appro- 
priate to prayer, for it is in the side of a little moun- 
tain, and is a devout hermitage. Close to this house 
is a cave devoted to and very suitable for the service 
of God. In this he used at times to give himself 
to prayer ; and at times he used to go out of the 
cave into a grove, and amongst those trees there was 
one which was very large, under which he went to 



FRAY MARTIN DE VALENCIA. 209 

pray early in the morning ; and it is asserted that as 
soon as he placed himself there to pray, the tree 
swarmed with birds which by their songs made sweet 
harmony, through which he felt much consolation, 
and praised and blessed the Lord ; and when he went 
away from there the birds went also ; and so, after the 
death of this servant of God nevermore gathered 
there in this manner. Both these things were noted 
by many who used to hold converse there with the 
servant of God, as well seeing them come and go 
before him, as their liot appearing after his death. I 
have been informed by a monk of good life that in 
this hermitage of Amecameca, there appeared to 
the man of God Saint Francisco and Saint Antonio, 
who leaving him much comforted departed from his 
presence." 

" Just outside Amecameca, is a hill, rising abrubtly 
from the plain and closely covered with a growth of 
ancient trees, some of them ahuehuetes which rival 
those at Chapultepec in size and venerable aspect. 
This hill is called the Sacro Monte ; there is room for 
thinking that it was sacred to the Aztec deities even 
before the coming of the Spanish priests, and that 
they adopted it to carry on the traditions belonging 
to it. However, this may be, it was one of Fray 
Martin's favorite retreats for retiring sometimes 
to an oratory which he had made in a cave on 
the mountain, to give himself to special exer- 
cises of the highest contemplation and rigor- 
ous penance. He continued to labor in teaching 
the Indios, especially boys, for whom he mani- 
fested singular love ; he remained there but little 



2IO THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

time, because in the following year, 1533, he was 
attacked with the pneumonia which caused his 
death. This was accompanied by very particular 
circumstances. A few days before he fell ill, with a 
few brief words, being in Amecameca, he manifested 
to his companion that now had arrived the term of 
his life ; and he not having understood this, very 
soon believed it by seeing the calentura of the serv- 
ant of God. As the illness increased he was forced 
to conduct him to the convent of Tlalmanalco, where 
the evil having declared itself, the holy sacraments 
were administered. The holy man seeing this case, 
resolved to bear him to the infirmary of Mexico ; 
and, in fact, upon shoulders of Indians, with much 
toil, they bore him to the shore at Ayotzinco, two 
leagues from the pueblo, and laid him in a canoa to 
carry him by the lake. Scarcely had he entered it 
when, feeling his hour arriving, he begged them to 
bring him to land. Yielding to his entreaties, they 
disembarked, although he was in a dying state, and 
putting himself upon his knees and causing them to 
recommend his soul to God, his spirit joined the 
Lord, falling into the arms of his companion, St. 
Antonio Ortiz, verifying the prophecy he had made 
many years before, in Spain, that he was to die in 
his arms in the middle of a field. As soon as the 
monks had notice of his death they took his corpse, 
and with millions of tears of their own and the 
Indians, gave it sepulture in the church in bare 
ground, without any precaution to preserve relics so 
precious. After some time the custodian learned 
this, and hastening to Tlalmanalco, had him ex- 



FRAY MARTIN DE VALENCIA. 211 

humed, and finding him in as good condition as 
when aHve, putting the corpse in a box and separate 
sepulchre, had a great stone put over it with a cor- 
responding epitaph. 

" The body was afterwards secretly moved to the 
Cave of Amecameca, where it awaits the glorious 
day of triumph for saints and confusion to repro- 
bates. Many miracles are related of the saint, 
but more than for these his name will be forever 
glorious in our country for his great virtues, and 
above all for the grand services which the order he 
founded for the glory of God had given to the Mex- 
icans during more than three hundred years." 

A further account confirms the devotion with 
which the Indians, encouraged by the padres, pre- 
served the relics of the holy father. 

" In this cave are guarded, night and day, by the 
Dominican monks, certain relics of this friar : a 
leather celicio, a coarse and rough tunic, and two 
chasubles of native linen cloth, in which the servant 
of God said mass ; and on the other side is a great 
box, locked, which serves as the sepulchre of a wooden 
Christ. . . . This sainted man died in the year 1534 
and was buried in the convent of Tlalmanalco, where 
his body remained untouched for the space of more 
than thirty years, since when it has not appeared, 
nor does any one know where it is nor who disturbed 
it." In fact, for fifty years the Indians of Ame- 
cameca guarded the relics with great devotion, but 
in secret, passing them from hand to hand, but 
without giving them up either to Franciscans or 
Dominicans, until in 1884 they were discovered by 



212 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the vicar, who collected them and put them in this 
chapel of the Sacro Monte. 

The Indians of Amecameca and of all the surround- 
ing pueblos greatly reverenced, with strange ceremo- 
nies, an image of Christ made by the Indians of Ame- 
cameca, and carefully preserved by them year after 
year. A legend states that long ago certain muleteers 
who were carrying this image to a southern town, 
missed the mule upon whose pack it had been placed. 
When the mule was discovered he was standing 
quietly in the cave upon the sacred mountain, sur- 
rounded by all the people of the town, who, conceiv- 
ing the Christ had chosen their cave for his abode, 
purchased the image from the muleteers, and con- 
structed for it in that spot a shrine, where it still re- 
mains after three centuries. A great pilgrimage is 
made to the shrine on the top of the sacred Mount. 
Every year, in Holy Week and on Ash Wednesday, 
the image is brought down to the parish church. 
The annual fair is held at this time in the Market 
Place, doubtless a continuation of some ancient Aztec 
festival in honor of the return of the Sun. All the 
country around assembles, and the culmination of 
the feast is on Good Friday, when the Christ is re- 
turned to his shrine on the mountain. 

The good Viceroy Velasco died in 1564, having 
governed the country for fourteen years. Both 
Mexicans and Spaniards sincerely mourned his loss, 
giving him the affectionate title of the Father of the 
country. 

During the government of this ruler and his pred- 
ecessor all the administration of New Spain, politi- 



FRAY MARTIN DE VALENCIA. 



213 



cal, civil, and religious was established upon so firm a 
foundation that it could go on in daily action like a 
well regulated machine. An interregnum occurred, 
owing to the death of Velasco, which was filled by 
the government of the Audiencia, always on hand to 
come to the surface on such occasions. There were 
two years in which .they had the management, but 
they did not succeed in very much deranging the 
harmony so well inaugurated by the two viceroys. 




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XXIL 

OTHER VICEROYS. 

Events in Spain underwent great changes during 
these years. On the 25th of October, 1555, Charles 
v., executed an instrument by which he ceded to his 
son, Philip II., the sovereignty of Flanders. It was 
in Brussels that theceremony took place, with all the 
pomp and solemnity suited to it. On the following 
i6th of January, in the presence of such of the 
Spanish nobility as were at the court, the emperor 
gave up also the sovereignty of Castile and Aragon, 
and then retired to the Convent of Yuste, weary of 
the cares of government. 

By this act, Philip became master of the most 
widely extended and powerful monarchy in Europe. 
He was king of Spain, comprehending under that 
name Castile, Aragon, and Granada, which, for centu- 
ries independent states, had been brought under one 
sceptre in the reign of his father, Charles V. He 
was king of Naples and Sicily, duke of Milan, 
lord of Franche Comt^ and the Low Countries ; he 
had important possessions in Africa ; in the true 
Indias he owned the Philippine and Spice Islands ; 
and in America, besides his possessions in the West 
Indies, he was master of Mexico and Peru. 

In all this multiplicity of affairs entailed upon the 
214 



OTHER VICEROYS. 21 5 

sovereign, Philip II. has maintained the reputation 
for admirable management, constant attention to 
public affairs, and the strictest sense of justice. It 
may well be believed, however, that he had not the 
same interest in the remote acquisition to his terri- 
tories which his father had. Charles knew Cortes 
personally; received the first exciting reports of the 
discovery of the new country and the rich gifts 
which were sent him as trophies and specimens of 
the advantages to be derived from the conquests. 
Philip had had no part in these things. Much of 
his early life was passed elsewhere, absorbed in other 
more closely personal events. 

By the time he became king the exciting days of 
the Conquest were over. Cortes was dead. The 
government of New Spain was established. The 
vital interest to the monarch of Spain in his Ameri- 
can colonies was to secure the large sums of gold 
and silver that were expected from them, and the 
mines oi Peru by that time so far exceeded those of 
Mexico, that the latter had to take a second place. 

Rumors of discontent that rose to him from the 
distant colony sounded to him " like a tale of little 
meaning, though the words were strong." 

Under these circumstances, the character of the 
viceroys was lowered from the high standard adhered 
to when Charles the Emperor selected them himself. 
To follow the long list of them would be most tedi- 
ous and useless, as they passed in rotation, governing 
according to the best of their lights for several years 
in Mexico, and then passing on, either by death or 
by promotion to Peru. 



2l6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

In 1 571 the Inquisition was fully established, the 
period marked, by the way, with a formidable erup- 
tion of Popocatepetl, and the next year the Jesuits 
arrived. 

The matter of the Inquisition had been under 
discussion for many years, a council, as early as the 
year 1529, having solemnly declared it to be " most 
necessary that the Holy OfTfice of the Inquisition 
shall be extended to this land, because of the com- 
merce with strangers here carried on, and because of 
the many corsairs abounding upon our coasts, which 
strangers may bring their evil customs among both 
natives and Castilians, who, by the grace of God, 
should be kept free from heresy." 

The full fruit of the declaration ripened only in 
1570, when Don Pedro Moya de Contreras was ap- 
pointed Inquisitor-General, with head-quarters in the 
city of Mexico. The Indians were especially ex- 
empted from its jurisdiction, only heretics from 
other nations falling under the ban. 

The Quemadero, a burning place in the city of 
Mexico, upon land since included in the Ala- 
meda, was a square platform in a large open space, 
where the spectacle could be witnessed by the 
population. The first auto-da-fe ^2.% celebrated in 
the year 1574, when, as its chronicler mentions 
cheerfully, " there perished twenty-one pestilent 
Lutherans." 

From this time such ceremonies were of frequent 
occurrence, but the Inquisition never reached the 
point it did in Old Spain. Although large numbers 
undoubtedly perished in these, autos-da-fe, the num- 



OTHER VICEROYS. 217 

ber of those actually burned to death was compara- 
tively small and insignificant compared to that of the 
victims to this religious fury in Europe, Early in 
the present century the Holy Office was suppressed 
throughout Spain and all Spanish dependencies, and, 
although the Inquisition was again estabhshed, it 
was only for a short time. 

Philip II. died just before the end of the century. 
With him ends the greatness of Spain, which from 
that time declined rapidly. Naturally the remote 
provinces felt the loosening of the firm hand which 
had controlled them, yet it is to be observed that 
the viceroys of New Spain under Philip III. were, 
for the most part, men of judgment and moderation. 
While the government at home, in the hands of 
profligate favorites, was growing weaker and weaker, 
that of Mexico was becoming more firmly established. 
Spanish blood had descended into a new generation, 
with Mexican habits, thoughts, and impressions. 
The national character, as always happens with 
colonists remote from their origin, was becoming 
modified into a new shape by change of climate and 
environment. Meanwhile the Indians were undoubt- 
edly greatly improved by the genial influence of 
their new religion. They were like children, for it 
was not the intention of the Church to teach them 
to think, as they were only too ready to acquire the 
knowledge of how to obey. 

In the beginning of the sixteenth century the city 
of Mexico was overwhelmed by inundations such as 
had from time to time caused the Aztecs great 
trou'ble. Their works were quite ineffectual against 



2l8 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the floods which invaded the city, and it was evident 
that some vigorous measure must be taken. There 
was question, once more, of removing the whole city 
to the soHd ground of Tacubaya ; but this plan was 
open to great objections. 

The engineer Enrico Martinez offered a plan for 
the rescue of the city which was accepted. It was 
to reduce the highest of the several lakes belonging 
to the network in the valley of Mexico, by diverting 
its waters elsewhere, and thus prevent its overflow. 
Work was begun in 1607. Fifteen thousand Indians 
were set to sinking shafts at intervals in order to 
bore a tunnel, to lead ofT the water, more than four 
miles long, and eleven feet wide by thirteen in 
height. It was completed in eleven months, and 
the event was celebrated by the presence of the vice- 
roy himself with great pomp, who gave the first 
stroke with his spade. Mass was said, and there 
were great rejoicings. This cut was call^the desague 
of Huehuetoca, a small village near the hills of 
Nochistongo. 

The canal proved too small, and several schemes 
were tried for enlarging and strengthening it, with 
varying and moderate success. The novelty of the 
enterprise having worn out, people began to think, 
during a series of dry years, that the peril from the 
lakes after all was not so great. The engineer 
Adrian Boot was sent from Spain to visit the canal 
of Huehuetoca ; having done so, he qualified it as 
insufificient, in which he shared the opinion of those 
who had not come so far. He failed in making it 
more ef^cacious, for, in 1629, came another inunda- 



OTHER VICEROYS. 2 19 

tion. In 1614, the rainy season having set in with 
unusual violence, Martinez, the engineer, himself 
gave orders to close the mouth of the tunnel, per- 
haps to rouse the people to its importance, and the 
importance of not neglecting it. The result was 
frightful. The whole city was instantly under water, 
and for five years it was converted into an unwilling 
Venice, during which the streets were passable only 
in boats. 

Martinez, who was put in prison for blocking the 
tunnel, was released in order to open it again. This 
he did, and erected a strong dyke which afforded 
some relief, but inundations were always recurring 
at intervals, until the whole plan of the work was 
altered by an open cut to replace the tunnel. This 
work was undertaken vigorously in 1767, and pressed 
to a conclusion by 1789. The taj'o of Nochistongo, 
as it is called, can be seen from the Central Railway, 
whose track runs through it, at an elevation of fifty 
feet or more above the stream. 

Owing to such drainage, and the process of evap- 
oration, the large lake of Texcuco has greatly sub- 
sided, and the waters which surrounded Tenochtit- 
lan have given place to nothing more than a marsh. 

The lovely river Lerma, which winds through the 
valley of Toluca, with fine views of a beautiful 
mountain, the Nevada de Toluca, bears the name of 
the worthless favorite of Philip III. 

This Philip died, and his son, Philip IV., succeeded 
him, continuing the line of royal favorites, and 
spending the imported wealth of Mexico and Peru 
in the extravagances of his court, and the exhaust- 



220 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ing demands of frequent wars with England, Hol- 
land, and France. He left the crown to his son, 
Charles H., who died without an heir in 1700; and 
then began the troublous wars of the Succession, 
which involved the whole of Europe. This ended 
the reign of the house of Austria. The king whose 
cause triumphed was a Bourbon, Philip V., and 
Bourbons continued to reign in Spain until the latter 
half of the present century. 

Mexico took no part in the war of succession. 
When Charles II. died, the ruling viceroy was the 
Conde de Moctezuma, whose title was from his wife, 
the great-great-great-granddaughter of the last em- 
peror of the name. Events in Europe caused no 
disturbance in his mind ; he quietly went on ruling, 
and awaited the result. It has been said that Philip 
the Bourbon at one time thought of running away 
from his difificulties at home, and taking refuge in 
Mexico. 

Only one more of the viceroys need be mentioned, 
the Conde de Revillagigedo, Don Juan Vicente de 
Giiemes Pacheco de Padilla, whose deeds are worth 
remembering. He found the city in 1787 in a 
wretched condition, unlighted, undrained, unpaved. 
Even a part of the viceregal palace was useless, be- 
ing occupied by the stalls of Indian women selling 
things to eat, such as tortillas, and mole. The vice- 
roy corrected all these disorders, both in the ac- 
counts and the morality of the metropolis. 

Revillagigedo was honored for his justice, re- 
nowned for his energy, and feared for his severity; 
at the same time he was extremely eccentric, and 



OTHER VICEROVS. 221 

ftiany anecdotes survive of his day. It is said he had 
the habit, like Montezuma and Haroun al Raschid, 
of going about incognito, with one or two aides-de- 
camp, to detect abuses in order to correct them. 
Walking one evening in the Calle San Francisco, he 
met a monk taking his pleasure much after the hour 
permitted for monks to be abroad. The viceroy 
went directly to the convent, where, on making him- 
self known, he was received by the abbot with all 
due respect. 

*' How many monks, father, have you in your con- 
vent? " he asked. 

" Fifty, your Excellency." 

" There are now only forty-nine. Call them over 
and see which is the missing brother, that his name 
may be struck out." 

The list was produced, the roll was called, and 
only forty-five monks presented themselves. By the 
order of the viceroy, when the five appeared they 
were refused admission to the convent, and never 
permitted to return. 

A poor Indian came to the viceroy and told him 
he was in difificulty, reproached with stealing some 
money. He said he had found a bag full of golden 
ounces in the street, and seeing an advertisement 
containing the promise of a handsome reward for the 
finder, he carried them to the person therein men- 
tioned as the owner. The Don received the bag, and 
counted the ounces. In doing so, not unobserved 
by the Indian, he slipped two into his pocket, and 
then accused the poor man of having stolen a part 
of the money, and turned him out of the house as a 
thief and a rascal. 



121 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The viceroy kept the Indian while he immediately 
sent for the Don, and asked him to relate the cir- 
cumstances. 

" May it please your Excellency, I lost a bag of 
gold. This Indian brought it to me in hopes of a 
reward, but he first stole part of the contents, and I 
drove him from my house." 

" Stay," said the viceroy, " there is some mistake 
here. How many ounces did you have in your bag?" 

" Twenty-eight." 

" And how many are there here ? " 

"Twenty-six." 

" Count them down. I see it is as you say. The 
case is clear, we have all been mistaken. Had the 
Indian been a thief he would never have brought 
back the bag and kept two ounces ; he would have 
kept the whole. It is evident this is not your bag, 
but another which this poor man has found. Con- 
tinue to search for yours. Good-morning." 

And sweeping up the gold pieces he gave them to 
the Indian to keep for himself. 

Many such tales are still current of this kind, ec- 
centric viceroy. He rendered substantial services 
to the country, and especially to the city of Mexico, 
which continued to maintain the better standard for 
cleanliness and order he introduced. Revillagigedo 
was calumniated and persecuted by certain enemies, 
and withdrew to Spain in 1794. 

Mexico during the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies offers no picturesque situations to describe at 
length. In fact, the history of the country is like 
some pictures with admirable background and sky 



OTHER VICEROYS. 223 

full of clouds and light, the foreground crowded with 
emotional detail, all of great interest, but absolutely- 
lacking in middle distance. 

The early study of Mexico is, to those who can 
view it from its romantic side, and put up with its 
troublesome, unpronounceable names, as attractive 
as the landscape of the plateau, where the two lofty 
volcanoes, snow-capped, are enhanced by the move- 
ment of heavy clouds, and the play of sunshine on 
their lineaments. In the foreground may be seen 
well-built cities, with the domes and towers of many 
a church, regular streets, pleasant plaziielas shaded 
with trees, bright and perfumed with flowers. Be- 
tween, there is nothing but a level plain, its monot- 
ony scarcely relieved by rows of maguey with stiff, 
bristling leaves We will hasten over the uninter- 
esting plain, and come to the emotional foreground. 

There were in all sixty-four viceroys, beginning 
with Don Antonio de Mendoza, 1535, and ending 
with Juan O'Donojii in 1822. For nearly three cen- 
turies they ruled New Spain, and ruled it pretty 
well, according to their lights and those from whom 
they received their authority. 




XXIII. 



HUMBOLDT, 



In the time of Iturrigaray, very near the close of 
the viceregal period, a little while before Napoleon 
invaded Spain, Alexander von Humboldt visited 
Mexico. He was a close observer of men and cus- 
toms, as well as of the natural phenomena belonging 
to his scientific explorations. His account of the 
country gives a good idea of the state of society in 
Mexico at the time he was there, and records the 
progress it had reached under Spanish rule, in the 
hands of the viceroys. The revolutions, then so 
soon about to begin, destroyed much of this civi- 
lization ; from the ruin brought by many a battle 
and riot, the country is yet but slowly recovering. 
We may study the description of Humboldt as we 
might an old daguerreotype, somewhat faded, but 
preserving forms and images in reality passed 
away. 

Humboldt and his friend, Bonpland, a botanist, 
left Europe in the early summer of 1799, armed 
with all sorts of scientific instruments, with letters 
and passports to admit them everywhere, for an ex- 
tended journey of scientific exploration in America. 
After nearly three years in South America, they left 

224 



HUMBOLDT. 225 

it for Mexico, arriving by water at Acapulco at the 
beginning of 1803. Acapulco is on the Pacific 
Coast in the state of Guerrero. Humboldt had 
letters from the court of Spain, which gave him 
every facility then accessible for travelling in Mexi- 




TEMPLE OF XOCHICALCO. 



CO. They passed through Cuernavaca, stopping to 
see the monument of Xochicalco in its vicinity. 
Humboldt notes the heads of crocodiles spouting 
water carved among the ornaments of this temple, 
with the comment that it was strange to find such 
figures employed on a plain four thousand feet 



226 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

above the sea and away from the haunts of these 
creatures, instead of the plants and animals belong- 
ing to the neighborhood. 

Without delay Humboldt and his companion 
reached the capital, where they were delighted 
with all they saw. The Academy of Fine Arts 
was then in a flourishing condition. Government 
had assigned it a spacious building, and it had a 
collection of casts, finer, Humboldt says, than was 
at that time to be found in Germany. 

A small school of engraving was opened in the 
Mint, as early as 1779, by royal order. General in- 
terest in this school became so great as to lead the 
Viceroy Mayorga to project an academy of the three 
fine arts, painting, sculpture, and architecture. In 
1783, under the rule of the good Galvez, royal ap- 
proval was granted, and license was given for the 
existing institution under the name of : " Academia 
de las Nobles Artes de San Carlos de la Nueva 
Espafia." 

The academy was formally opened with suitable 
ceremony in 1785, removed a few years later to the 
building it still occupies. Charles HI. himself sent 
the collection of casts admired by Humboldt. For 
twenty years it flourished in the hands of competent 
artists sent from the mother country. Then the 
end of that protection, and the turbulent days of 
civil war, disturbed its even tenor. 

Humboldt says that every night in its spacious 
halls, well illumined by Argand lamps, hundreds of 
young men were assembled, some sketching from 
plaster-casts or from life, others copying designs of 



HUMBOLDT. 22^ 

furniture, candelabra, and bronze ornaments; ad- 
mission was free to all ; class, colors, and races were 
mingled together ; the Indian beside the white boy, 
the son of the poorest mechanic beside that of the 
richest lord. In 1839 ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ changed. Ma- 
dame Calderon described the casts as mutilated, the 
engravings injured, and the building in disorder 
and abandoned. In this state it remained until 
the return to power of Juarez, since when, with an 
annual allowance of $35,000, the institution is doing 
fairly well. The name is changed to the " National 
School of Fine Arts " ; prizes are given for good 
work ; all teaching is free. 

The equestrian statue of Charles IV. was com- 
pleted just at the time of Humboldt's visit. He 
was present when it was cast, and saw it on its \yay 
to the plaza. 

The Cathedral was then new, and its massive tow- 
ers, with the fine plaza in front of it, excited the ad- 
miration of the enthusiastic traveller. A few years 
only before his visit, the great idol, Teoyamiqui, 
had been discovered, in the time of the eccentric 
Viceroy Revillagigedo ; he would have placed it in 
the University, but the professors there were un- 
willing to have it seen by Mexican youths, and 
they buried it again in one of the corridors of the 
Colegio. They were persuaded to dig it up in or- 
der that Humboldt should see and make a sketch 
of it. 

The Aztec calendar, the stone of sacrifice, and the 
manuscripts in hieroglyph much interested the great 
man, but more the natural attractions of the city. 



228 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

One of his favorite haunts was Chapultepec, then in 
good order, as it was left by the Viceroy Galvez, who 
first made a pleasure-house there, where Humboldt 
delighted in the broad view of plain and volcano. 
He loved to go, as every one does now, to the market- 
place, to see the stalls of the Indians all hung with 
verdure. No matter what they sell — fruit, roots, 
pulque — their booths are ornamented with flowers. 
He describes the hedge a yard high of fresh herbs 
and delicate leaves built around the fruit-stalls, and 
the garlands of flowers, which divided the alleys of 
the market, spread upon the ground with little nose- 
gays stuck at intervals, making a sort of carpet of 
flowers. The fruit, in small cages of wood, was orna- 
mented on top with flowers. He describes the pretty 
sight, at sunrise, of the Indians coming along the 
Viga Canal in boats loaded with fruits and flowers, 
from Istacalco and Chalco ; and gives an account of 
the chinanipas, or floating gardens, on the marshy 
banks of these lakes. This invention is attributed 
to the early Aztecs, who cultivated the ground on 
loose tracts of earth, bound together by roots which 
were either driven about t>y the winds or moored to 
the shore. Similar ones, he says, are to be met with 
in all the zones. In our day the chinanipas do not 
float, but have the appearance of low, wet gardens, 
intersected by many channels of water ; they are, 
however, pretty patches of gay flowers cultivated, 
with vegetables, for the city market, and a trip to 
Santa Anita, over the still waters of the Viga, must 
not be omitted from the excursions around Mexico; 
the scene is charming in itself, and haunted more- 



HUMBOLDT. 229 

over by the long succession of gentle Indians, who 
for centuries have heaped their boats with flowers, 
and floated over the dark water chanting low songs. 

Humboldt went to inspect the pyramids of the 
sun and moon at Teotihuacan, and afterwards gave 
a prolonged study to mines, visiting first Moran and 
Real del Monte, northeast of the capital, and after- 
wards Guanajuato. Long before the arrival of the 
Spaniards, the natives of Mexico were acquainted 
with the working of subterranean veins to find metal. 
Cortes says that gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin 
were all sold in the markets of Tenochtitlan. They 
either collected grains of native gold in small baskets 
of slender rushes, or melted the metal into bars, hke 
those now used in trade, represented in Mexican 
paintings. Humboldt found the methods of mining 
not advanced from the sixteenth century,without any 
of the improvements known in his time. The hard 
work was performed by Indians, the beasts of burden 
of the mines. They carried out the metal in bags 
on their backs, going up and down thousands of 
steps, in long files of fifty or sixty, men of seventy 
years old, and children of ten or twelve. 

The mine of Valenciana, in Humboldt's time the 
most celebrated of Guanajuato, and the richest then 
known in Mexico, was not much wrought until the 
end of the eighteenth century, although it had been 
somewhat worked by the early Indians and the first 
Spanish settlers. In 1760, a poor man named Obre- 
gon, a Spaniard, began to explore a new vein. As he 
was a worthy man, he found friends willing to ad- 
vance small sums from time to time to carry on his 



230 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

work. For several years the cost was much greater 
than the produce, but the pit grew rich as it became 
deep, and at last yielded quantities of sulphuretted 
silver. When Obregon, or, as he came to be called, 
the Count of Valenciana, began to work the vein, 
goats were browsing over the hill-tops all about the 
ravine of San Xavier. Ten years after, on the same 
spot, the climbing streets of Guanajuato sheltered a 
large population ; and at present it is a flourishing 
city, surrounded by a region all rich in minerals. 
The produce from the mine at Valenciana has fallen 
behind that of other later veins, and scarcely covers 
the outlay. 

Humboldt went from Guanajuato to Valladolid, 
which had not yet changed its name in honor of the 
mule-driver, Morelos, who had, however, already be- 
gun to study in the Colegio of San Nicholas. Valla- 
dolid was a small city of eighteen thousand inhab- 
itants. Humboldt says it contained nothing worthy 
of notice, but an aqueduct and a bishop's palace. 
He could not fail to admire the lofty picturesque 
arches of that aqueduct of warm yellow stone, whose 
long lines vanish in perspective, shaded by great ash 
trees. He does full justice to the beauty of Patzcuaro, 
which he declares would alone have repaid him for 
his voyage across the ocean. Humboldt spent some 
time there, and his memory of his visit is still pre- 
served in the name of a lofty hill overlooking the 
lake, named Humboldt's mountain. The hospitable, 
courteous citizens of Patzcuaro still point out with 
pride his favorite points of view. They fully appre- 
ciate, as he did, the attractions of their lovely lakes. 



HUMBOLDT. 23 1 

The volcano Jorullo, twenty leagues south of Patz- 
cuaro, was first made known to men of science in 
Europe by Humboldt's account of it. 

In the middle of the eighteenth century the site of 
this volcano was covered with peaceful fields of sugar- 
cane, cotton, and indigo, watered by artificial means, 
belonging to the plantation of San Pedro de Jorullo. 
In June, 1759, for the first time, hollow noises from 
under the ground began to make themselves heard, 
and in September a tract of ground three or four 
square miles in extent humped up like a bubble. 
Thick vapors, smoke, and flames were seen to issue 
from this area, which rose and fell like the ocean. 
Large masses of rock and earth sprung up as if from 
a chasm, and the highest of these developed into a 
volcano, which burned steadily, throwing up lava 
arid hot ashes for several months. 

The Indians were greatly terrified by such a spec- 
tacle, as well they might be. Flames were seen at Patz- 
cuaro, and even at Quer^taro, many miles away. The 
roofs of houses were covered with ashes, and the rich 
plantations of San Pedro reduced to a barren plain. 
They believed that some missionary monks who 
were ill received at the plantation poured out horrid 
imprecations upon the fertile spot, and prophesied 
that it should be swallowed up by flames rising out 
of the earth. Whether these vindictive monks had 
anything to do with it or no, the hacienda of Jorullo 
was destroyed, all the trees thrown down and buried 
in sand and ashes from the volcano. The field and 
roads were covered with sand, crops destroyed, and 
flocks perished, unable to drink the infected water. 



232 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The eruptions grew gradually less and ceased dur- 
ing the following year, but the mountain, with its 
extinct crater, remains in the place of the once fer- 
tile hacienda. 

Humboldt and his companion inspected also the 
great volcano, the pyramid of Cholula, and the pic- 
turesque town of Jalapa. They left Mexico by the 
port of Vera Cruz, and went to Havana, spending 
nearly a year in the United States. 





XXIV. 

REVOLUTIONS. 

Mexico could not always remain indifferent to 
the current of events in Spain. Changes which 
shook Europe to its uttermost Hmit raised a tempest 
whose waves broke with violence even on the remote 
shores of the province. 

Spain, after Philip V., was governed by three of 
his sons in succession, the last of whom, Charles III., 
held the throne until 1788. He was a prince of ex- 
cellent intentions and blameless morals, and through 
his ministers he brought the country to a degree of 
prosperity to which it was little accustomed since 
the days of Philip II. 

His good works extended as far as Mexico, where 
he caused to be found ed^n the capital, the Acad- 
emy of Fine Arts, still in existenceT'"His me^lory- 
in~the''days"bf'nle viceroys was preserved in New 
Spain as that of the greatest and wisest of mon- 
archs. His son, Charles IV., succeeded him. It 
must not be forgotten that the Emperor Charles V. 
was Charles I. of Spain — fifth Charles only of those 
of Austria. 

Charles IV., in no sense a relative of Charles V., 
being a Bourbon with instincts and traditions wholly 

233 



234 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

different, was a weak and pitiful sovereign. During 
his reign came the French Revolution, following 
close upon the Declaration of Independence of the 
United States of North America, events which gave 
cause for reflection to all vassals of crowned heads, 
and especially to all colonized provinces remote 
from their heads. Yet Mexico remained loyal in 
spite of the petty tyranny of the viceroy sent from 
the court of Charles, Branciforte, an Italian adven- 
turer of low bearing and reputation, who obtained 
his appointment through the interest of the royal 
favorite Godoy, " Prince of Peace." This viceroy 
requested permission to erect a statue of his royal 
master in the Plaza Mayor of the Mexican capital, 
nominally himself assuming the charges of the work, 
though nearly the whole expense finally came upon 
the city and private individuals. It is an equestrian 
statue cast in bronze. The king is dressed in classic 
style, wearing a laurel wreath, and in his hand he 
holds a raised sceptre. Thus a pretentious statue 
of a sovereign for whom they cared nothing was 
forced upon the Mexicans, while his predecessor, 
Charles III., was left without such honor. 

In 1822 the statue was inclosed in a great wooden 
globe painted blue, so that the sight of a tyrant in 
his robes need not offend the new-born patriotism of 
the city. But such feelings have now passed away, 
and it stands in the plazuela for the observation of 
loyalist or rebel. 

Charles had a son, Ferdinand, with whom, as is 
frequent in the history of crown princes, he could not 
agree. Thus when Napoleon Bonaparte, who, pass- 



RE VOL U TIONS. 235 

ing from conquest to conquest, turned his attention 
to Spain, both father and son sought the aid, or at 
least sympathy, of the great conqueror in their fam- 
ily quarrel. Accepting this pretext for intervention, 
Napoleon carried his armies into the peninsula in 
1808. The king and court fled from Madrid, with 
the intention, very decided for a short time, of seek- 
ing refuge in Mexico. This project fell through. 
Charles abdicated in favor of his son, Prince Ferdi- 
nand, who became Ferdinand VII. But Napoleon 
wanted no Ferdinand VII., and made him renounce 
the crown. French troops took possession of the 
capital, and Joseph Bonaparte governed Spain under 
the title of king until 1813. But the Spanish people 
resisted the French invasion. Councils were assem- 
bled, assuming royal authority, to govern in the 
name of Ferdinand. This was the beginning of the 
Juntas which have since played so important a part 
in Spanish affairs at home and in her colonies. 

We will not follow the matter in Spain further than 
to add that she was freed from the burden of the Bo- 
napartes by the aid of the English in 18 14. A year 
after, the power of Napoleon was at an end. 

The Bourbon dynasty was restored in Spain, as 
well as in France, and Ferdinand VII. was rein- 
stated, with limited powers, however, for in the course 
of this period of agitation the Spanish people had 
tasted the cup of independence, and the ancient ar- 
bitrary rule of monarch and favorite was no longer 
tolerated by them. The Marquis of Branciforte, no 
longer viceroy, declared himself in favor of Joseph 
Bonaparte, and emigrated to France. His Mexican 



236 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

property was confiscated later and handed over to 
the authorities. 

Here we must leave Spain to fight her own battles. 

In the beginning of the new century, Don Jos^ de 
Iturrigaray took possession of the vice-regal seat. 
He was a man of public spirit, and an excellent 
ruler. He greatly improved the highroad from Vera 
Cruz to the capital, built the Puente del Rey, since 
called the National Bridge, protected commerce, and 
encouraged home industry. He organized a militia, 
greatly developed the army, and showed himself 
devoted to the interests of his charge. 

But the audiencia then existing, and many Span- 
iards, as soon as the news of Napoleon's invasion of 
Spain reached them, imagined that Iturrigaray, who 
had thus brought the army to an available condition, 
had conceived the idea of seizing Mexico, and as- 
suming an independent crown for himself. Acting 
upon this idea, they rose in revolt, took possession 
of the palace and seized Iturrigaray and all his family, 
shutting him up in the fortress of San Juan de Uloa, 
until opportunity offered to send him back to Spain. 
An old marshal of the army, Garibay, was made 
viceroy in his place, but he ruled but a few months, 
when the central Junta of Spain ordered him super- 
seded by the Archbishop of Mexico. Whatever 
were the rights of this question, the act of revolt set 
an example persistently followed in Mexico through 
the first half of this century. In this experience it 
was discovered how easy it was to overturn a govern- 
ment ; the Mexicans, delighted with their success, 
wondered why they had never done it before. In 



REVOLUTIONS. 237 

this first case, it was the Spaniards, of pure blood, 
who took the matter into their own hands. 

Revolt, independence, were in the air. The policy 
of Spain had been rigorous in the extreme. Enor- 
mous taxes oppressed the people, the colonists had 
no voice in the making of the laws, which were arbi- 
trary ; and their exaction depended on the cruelty 
or generosity of the reigning viceroy. These rulers, 
constantly changing, had no opportunity to incor- 
porate themselves with the people. At the best, it 
was a rule of strangers, in which the individuality of 
the colony had no chance. Pure Spaniards alone 
constituted society in Mexico ; those of mixed 
blood were regarded with contempt ; while the In- 
dians, native to the soil, counted for nothing. 

It was inevitable, then, that revolutions in Mexico 
should follow those in the rest of the civilized world, 
but it was hard upon the public-spirited Iturrigaray 
that its first outburst should fall upon his head. 
Great agitation followed, and the Archbishop of 
Mexico had hard work to make good his title received 
from the Junta Central. He was superseded by the 
Regency established at home, and Don Francisco 
Venegas entered the capital as viceroy in 18 10. . 




XXV. 



HIDALGO. 



Miguel Hidalgo was born in the rancho of San 
Vicente, between the eastern shore of the river 
Turbio and the hacienda of Cuitzeo de los Naran- 
jos, in the jurisdiction of Penjamo in Guanajuato, 
on the 8th of May, 1753, the day of the archangel 
Miguel, whom we call Saint Michael. His father 
was a well-to-do farmer, Christobal Hidalgo y Cos- 
tilla, and his mother, Ana Maria Gallega. Miguel 
was baptized on the i6th of the same month of the 
year, in the chapel of Cuitzeo de los Naranjos, and 
passed his childhood at home with his parents. At 
a proper age he was sent to school in Valladolid, 
at the Colegio de San Nicholas, where he pursued 
his studies until he came to be head of the institu- 
tion. This school was founded by the good Bishop 
Quiroga, at the time the Cathedral was transferred 
from Tzintzuntzan, and was therefore one of the first 
in the country. This fact, and the greater one, that 
the Benemerito cura Hidalgo not only taught but 
lived within the walls, where no doubt he first formed 
his ideas of independence, makes Morelia very proud 
of its seminary. 

Miguel went to Mexico in 1779 to take sacerdotal 
238 



240 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

orders and the degree of bachelor in theology. This 
was but three years after the declaration of indepen- 
dence in the United States. He served as curate 
in several places, and on the death of his brother 
Joaquin received the curacy of the little pueblo of 
Dolores. 

He was a man of intellectual gifts, and good in- 
struction. He knew French, which was uncommon 
at that time in his class, and his opinions on all sub- 
jects were advanced beyond the average of the 
period. 

His predilection was the pursuit of agriculture, 
and at Dolores it was his pleasure to cultivate the 
vine and the mulberry. He established a manufac- 
ture of bricks and earthenware in the place, and 
made himself generally beloved by his gentle and 
affable deportment, notwithstanding his radical 
ideas, which were regarded as extreme by his people. 
In the year 1800, he was denounced before the 
Committee of the Inquisition for maintaining dan- 
gerous opinions, without, however, any serious result. 
Bold schemes he formed for the rescue of his coun- 
try from the bondage in which she was held by 
Spain. In the solitude of his pueblo his strong, well- 
trained glance fixed itself upon the light which was 
flooding the world from the rising republic on his 
own continent. This man, sprung from the people, 
dared to think of a government by the people. He 
longed to throw off the yoke, not only of an alien 
government, but of a haughty class. He wanted 
Mexico to be Mexico, and not a helpless dependency 
of a rapidly deteriorating Spain. 



HIDALGO. 241 

Such dreams and ideas Hidalgo imparted to a few 
other persons, and they became plans. Those who 
talked these things fell under suspicion, and in 
Queretaro, an attempt was made to seize a small 
knot of such men. They were warned, and fied or 
concealed themselves. Hidalgo, hearing of this, 
instead of following their example, determined to 
delay no longer, but to declare independence at 
once. In this resolve he was supported by another 
patriotic spirit. 

Ignacio Allende was born in San Miguel el Grande 
the 20th of January, 1779. His father was a 
Spaniard, Narciso Allende, his mother, Mariana 
Uraga. Of a noble family, with wealth and good 
position, he was destined for a soldier, and reached 
the grade of captain of dragoons. 

Fired by the ideas of independence which were 
smouldering everywhere, Allende made frequent 
visits to Hidalgo, and with him planned the details 
for the important step they were meditating. Two 
officers in the regiment of Allende were of his 
opinion, and became confidants of the plan. 

On the night of the 15th of September, 1810, 
roused by Allende or Aldama, another of the 
plotters, Hidalgo rose from his bed, dressed himself 
quietly, and calling his brother to his aid, with ten 
armed men, besides their few friends, went straight 
to the prison and liberated certain men, arming 
them with swords. This was Saturday night, or 
rather the dawn of Sunday. At early mass, all the 
parish were informed of what had happened, and 
every countryman in the neighborhood took the 



242 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

side of Hidalgo, who thus became the leader, if not 
of an army, at least of a respectable force of Mexi- 
cans. The little band hastened to San Miguel el 
Grande, which they reached before nightfall the 
same day. 

This movement, started by Hidalgo, is called the 
Grito de Dolores. The little body of eighty men, 
which soon increased to three hundred, bore for a 
banner a picture of the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, 
belonging to a little village church. Their cry, the 
Grito, was " Up with True Religion, and Down 
with False Government." 

Nothing like this had happened ever before in 
Mexico. That common men, not appointed by the 
court of Spain, should dare to have an opinion 
about letters, religion, or government was a thing 
unheard of. For a while amazement prevented any 
vigorous steps against them. At San Miguel, the 
regiment of Allende joined the little band, and a 
crowd of laborers from the field, armed with slings, 
sticks, and spades. Out of this raw material Hidalgo 
organized an army, with himself at its head under 
the title of general, and Allende as his lieutenant. 

At Celaya, their numbers had increased to fifty 
thousand men — some say more. With such a force 
and supported by the enthusiasm which prevailed, 
Hidalgo resolved to march upon Guanajuato, an 
already rich and flourishing city, the capital of the 
second largest mining state in Mexico. It is built 
in a deep, narrow ravine, the houses crowded in 
steep streets like stairways. 

Its inhabitants saw with terror and astonishment 



HIDALGO. 243 

a mass of men advancing towards it, armed with 
strange weapons, but holding the order and disci- 
pline of an organized army. The Spaniards, that is 
the representatives of government, resolved to de- 
fend the town, and prepared for the attack. 

The Independents were driven back several times. 
The besieged had entrenched themselves in the 
strong place, Alhondiga de Grenaditas, used for stor- 
ing grain, with the governor of the town at their 
head ; and there defended themselves so well that 
things were going badly for their opponents, until a 
little boy, called Pipita, on all fours, with a lighted 
brand in his hand, shielding himself with a flat tile 
torn up from the pavement, succeeded in reaching 
the great gate and setting fire to it, in spite of the 
bullets which fell about him. Amidst the blaze, the 
insurgents seized the stronghold by force of arms, 
and killed or made prisoners all within it. The 
populace of Guanajuato rose, rushing about the 
streets and sacking houses and shops. Hidalgo, 
however, succeeded in restoring order by severe 
edicts. He established himself in this his first 
stronghold, to collect supplies of arms and money 
for his volunteer host. The whole province of 
Guanajuato declared in his favor, and three squad- 
rons of the regiment del Principe swelled the num- 
bers of his troops. 

Just before, on the 13th of September, a new vice- 
roy had arrived in the city of Mexico, little thinking 
what the nature of his new duties were to be, or that 
he should be so soon called upon to execute them. 
Don Francisco Javier Venegas, lieutenant-general of 



244 TI^E STOkY OF MEXICO. 

the Spanish forces, had distinguished hinriself in the 
war between the armies of Spain and Napoleon. He 
sailed away from confusion at home, and imagined, 
very likely, that he was going to settle down to the 
peaceable monotony of a life in the provinces. He 
began by calling a Junta of prominent persons in the 
capital, and among other things proclaimed to them 
that the Regency of Spain begged the aid of money 
from their loyal. Americans to sustain the war 
against Napoleon. 

Three days afterwards independence was declared 
in the Grito de Dolores. The viceroy learned that 
Mexico was not behind the age in revolutions, and 
that he must call upon his military skill to suppress 
a formidable rising in its cradle. He ordered all the 
troops then in garrison at Mexico to Quer^taro, in- 
creased these forces with rural troops, and sent for 
marines to Vera Cruz, while he summoned forces 
from San Luis Potosi, at the north, and even those 
of Guadalajara, in the west, to hold themselves in 
readiness. 

He further published a decree of the Regency, 
liberating all Indians from taxation, and put a 
price upon the heads of Hidalgo, Allende, and 
Aldama of ten thousand dollars, promising also 
indulgence to such Independents as should at once 
lay down arms. 

The Mexican clergy allied themselves with the 
civil authorities on this issue ; the bishops excom- 
municated Hidalgo and his companions, and furious 
sermons were preached against them in the churches. 
The Inquisition renewed all the charges against 



HIDALGO. 245 

Hidalgo which they had found in 1800, and cited 
him to appear before them. Yet his cry was not 
against religion, but bad government. The Bishop 
of Michoacan also excommunicated him, and set at 
once upon preparing the defence of Valladolid as 
soon as he heard the echo of the Grito de Dolores. 

In fact, excomunication from various dioceses rat- 
tled round the heads of the insurgents, who kept on 
their way little heeding so much mighty sound. 

On the 17th of October the Independent troops 
entered Valladolid without resistance, the valiant 
bishop having fled to Mexico at the first sign of his 
approach, together with the civil and military author^ 
"ities, and many Europeans settled in that hitherto 
peaceful town. Hidalgo compelled the canons in 
the absence of the bishop to remove the excommu- 
nication fulminated against him and his companions. 
He established his authority in the place, and in ten 
days, with his ever-swelling army, took the bold step 
of advancing upon the capital. 

As this terrible band approached, the inhabitants 
of Mexico, remembering Guanajuato, were filled with 
fear. Some hid their plate in the convents ; others 
hid themselves ; many fled the city. The brave and 
military viceroy sent his army forward, commanded 
by Trujillo. Upon the Monte de la Cruces, outside 
of the city, the forces met, and a terrible battle 
ensued. The insurgents were swept by the fire of their 
opponents' artillery ; but their immense num.bers bore 
up against all resistance, inspired by enthusiasm 
in the cause, and triumphed completely, the soldiers 
of the viceroy abandoning the field with many losses. 



246 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

The commanding- general, Trujillo, owed his Hfe to 
his excellent horse, which bore him swiftly back to 
Mexico. Had Hidalgo marched immediately upon 
Mexico, then in a state of panic and confusion most 
advantageous to his cause, it might have been for 
him the victorious end of the struggle. Unfortu- 
nately, he decided to withdraw towards Quer^taro, 
fearing the approach of reinforcements from the 
capital. 

In fact, at Aculco he was vigorously attacked by 
the division of Calleja arriving from the north, and, 
after a hot combat, the insurgents were overcome, 
losing all their artillery and many men. The huge 
army melted, and Hidalgo went back to Valladolid* 
with but a handful of men. 

Calleja followed Allende to Guanajuato, where he 
attacked him with the same vigor, so that he was 
obliged to abandon the city and retreat to Zacatecas, 
which had already proclaimed independence. A 
cruel retaliation was taken by Calleja upon the 
inhabitants of Guanajuato. 

Hidalgo again assembled an army, and went to 
Guadalajara, where the Independents had already 
declared themselves. No sooner had he left Valla- 
dolid than it was again occupied by royalist troops. 

In Guadalajara Hidalgo organized a government, 
taking for himself the title of Generalissimo, and ap- 
pointing ministers. He sent immediately a com- 
missioner to the United States Government ; but 
this emissary had not gone far before he was seized 
and made prisoner by the Spaniards. Hidalgo 
exerted himself vigorously to collect arms and 



HIDALGO. 247 

means for reorganizing his army. But the royal- 
ists, with equal energy and resources far better, had 
their forces ready to advance under the orders of 
Calleja, while Hidalgo's army were still in the rough. 
Nevertheless he resolved to attack without waiting 
for the royalists, against the opinion of Allende and 
others, who thought the risk too great. He sallied 
from Guadalajara with his large but undisciplined 
force on the i6th of January, to the Puente de Cal- 
deron, whence at the fall of evening could be discerned 
the regular troops of Calleja, to the number of ten 
thousand men, in the best discipline, and perfectly 
armed and equipped. The next day was fought the 
battle of Calderon. 

The result was a foregone conclusion. The insur- 
gents fought bravely ; the battle was undecided for 
some hours, but the rout was complete, the van- 
quished Independents retreating in all directions. 

Calleja entered Guadalajara. The insurgents 
were put down in various places, and the revolution 
for the time was suppressed. 

Hidalgo set forward towards Zacatecas. On the 
way, he encountered Allende, Jimenez, and other 
chiefs of the insurrection, who had escaped with 
many perils from the fatal Puente de Calderon. It 
is said that their differences of opinion concerning 
the plan of campaign caused dissatisfaction among 
them. They agreed, however, to hasten towards 
the United States with such troops and money as 
they had left, there to recruit and discipline an 
army with which to return and conquer. 

With a large convoy of mules and baggage, some 



248 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

pieces of artillery, and a considerable escort, they 
were overtaken and surprised by the Spanish troops 
not far from the frontier they longed to cross, and 
were made prisoners in a dismal desert spot called 
Las Norias de Bajan, in the state of Coahuila which 
borders upon the Rio Grande. The chiefs of con- 
spiracy were secured and conducted under a strong 
escort to Chihuahua, where they were tried and 
condemned to death. 

On the 26th day of June, 181 1, Allende, Aldama, 
and Jimenez were shot in Chihuahua, and upon the 
31st of July perished Hidalgo, showing in his last 
moments great bravery and self-possession. 

The heads of these four illustrious chiefs were 
carried to Guanajuato, and nailed upon the four cor- 
ners of the Alhondiga de Grenaditas, where they re- 
mained for ten years. Later the remains, as those of 
martyrs, received solemn burial beneath the altar of 
the sovereigns in the grand cathedral of Mexico. 

The execution of these men closed the first period 
of the struggle for independence in Mexico. The 
royalist troops had everywhere triumphed ; the 
voices which had uttered the Grito de Dolores were 
silent. Order might now resume its course, and 
Venegas, the viceroy, settle into that quiet living 
he had proposed for himself in the provinces. 

It is interesting to wonder what would have hap- 
pened if the insurgent chief had succeeded in cross- 
ing the frontier into tht vague regions of the West, 
under the protection of the American flag. The 
Government of the United States in 181 1 was 
scarcely in a condition to render efficient aid to 



HIDALGO. 



249 



straggling patriots from other countries. Moreover, 
the lands between the Rio Grande and the new re- 
public were but a wilderness, in which a little hand- 
ful of men, however brave, however independent, 
might easily have perished by starvation or cold. 
The death that came upon them was martyrdom to 
their cause, more eflficient as an incentive to future 
patriotism than lives of prolonged incomplete 
effort. 

The Alh6ndiga de Grenaditas is now used for a 
prison. In its walls is still to be seen the spike 
from which for ten years hung the head of Hidalgo. 
Before the entrance stands a bronze statue of the 
first liberator of his country. 




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XXVI. 



MORELOS. 



The Independents were not all destroyed. Before 
the end of the year which witnessed the execution 
of the three chiefs, the name of Morelos began to 
be noised abroad. 

The father of Morelos was a carpenter living in 
Valladolid with his wife Juana Pavon. They were 
of low birth and poor. On the 30th of September 
Juana Pavon, on her way to the market-place, was 
obliged to enter a house on the corner of the street 
where she chanced to be, in order that her son 
should be born immediately. This house now has a 
stone inserted over the doorway thus inscribed : 

T/ie immortal 

jfos^ M. Morelos was born in this house 

on the 2,0th of September 1765. 

i6th of September 1881. 

In 1801, this son, then a curate in the neighbor- 
hood, bought another house in the town, which he 
rebuilt and made comfortable. This house remains 
in the hands of the relatives of the hero, who also 
possess his portrait and a piece of the cloth with 

250 



MORELOS. 251 

which his eyes were bandaged on the 22d of De- 
cember, 181 5. Over the door is inscribed : 

Morelos the illustrious ! 
Immortal Hero. 
In this house, honored by thy presence. 
Salute you the-grateful people of Morelia. 

For the grateful people of his birth-place changed 
the time-honored name of their city to Morelia in 
honor of their patriotic citizen, thus paying a wor- 
thy tribute to his memory, although slighting that 
of the good viceroy who established its foundations. 

The parents of Morelos dedicated him to the 
career of a muleteer, as the local history expresses 
it, and a muleteer he remained until he was thirtj 
years old. At that advanced age he had the cour- 
age to enter the Colegio de San Nicholas, where 
Hidalgo was then superintendent. It is easy to see 
that other lessons were taught there besides those 
of the school curriculum ; Morelos made rapid 
progress in all branches of education, was ordained 
to the church, and obtained several successive cura- 
cies. Thus employed, when the Grito de Dolores 
sounded over Anahuac, he offered his services to the 
Generalissimo Hidalgo on the side of independence. 
He was sent to raise the standard of liberty on the 
Pacific coast, and starting from his village with 
twenty-five men, arrived at Acapulco with a thou- 
sand. 

In various encounters with the royalists, Morelos 
and his men were successful. He showed great per- 
ception in the management of troops, and marched 



\^'^ 



252 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

from one triumph to another as far as Cuautla, a 
picturesque town eighty-five miles southeast of the 
city of Mexico. Its lower level makes it tropical and 
picturesque, with lanes winding about among the 
adobe huts of the Indians, hedged with banana and 
orange trees, and hung with all manner of wandering 
vines and brilliant blossoms. Water trickles every- 
where, and across the broad valley rises toward the 
north the peak of Popocatepetl. 

Here Morelos sustained a siege against the well 
trained army of Calleja, still in the field, and ripe 
with the honors of victory in the campaigns at 
Hidalgo. The Independents held out from the 19th 
of February to the 2d of May, with great valor and 
endurance, repulsing three assaults, and sustaining 
daily attacks, while their sufferings were great from 
lack of food and water. The fame of Morelos, 
heroic defender of Cuautla, spread far and Avide. 
After sixty-two days of steady resistance, Morelos, 
recognizing that he must abandon the place, suc- 
ceeded in coming out at night without molestation, 
retiring in order towards the north. 

Until the end of the year 1812, Morelos was en- 
gaged in leading his army from one victory to 
another, and gathering everywhere additions to his 
forces. The next year he ventured as far as Aca- 
pulco, scene of his first expedition. The garrison 
there capitulated, and he took possession of the for- 
tress of San Diego in August, 1813. 

On the 14th of September, Morelos called together 

Ithe first Mexican Congress, at Chilpantzingo, not 

very far from the Pacific coast. Among its members 



MORELOS. 253 

were many whose names have since been repeatedly 
before the Mexicans as Hberals, The first act of 
this Congress was to nominate Morelos Captain-Gen- 
eral of the Independent forces. It was thought sig- 
nificant that on the same date, September 15th, 
three years before, Hidalgo had placed himself in 
the same post of honor and difificulty. 

The declaration of independence issued by this 
Congress was as follows : '^(Y<i^ ^<yf/' 

" The Congress of Anahuac, lawfully installed in 
the city of Chilpantzingo, of North America, sol- 
emnly declares, in the presence of God, arbitrator of , 
kingdoms and author of society, who gives and takes 
away according to the inscrutable designs of his 
providence, that, through the present circumstances 
of Europe, it has recovered the exercise of its 
sovereignty, hitherto usurped, its dependence upon 
the throne of Spain being thus forever disrupted 
and dissolved." 

During this year the viceroy, Venegas, was recalled 
by the regency, and the office conferred upon Cal- 
leja, who had so valiantly defended the royalist 
cause. 

The plan of Morelos was to take Valladolid, and 
establish there the seat of Congress. Bringing to- 
gether all his forces, he approached the capital of 
Michoacan on the 23d December, and demanded its 
surrender. But the city was now occupied by the 
royalist forces of two commanders, one of whom was 
Agustin de Yturbide, already renowned for his re- 
peated victories over the insurgents and the unrelent- 
ing vigor with which he pursued them. These forces 



2 54 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

attacked the army of Morelos, and completely routed 
it on Christmas eve. 

Morelos escaped, and with a few soldiers returned 
to Acapulco. The prestige of his army was lost ; 
apparently his star was declining. One mishap after 
another followed, and the royal forces pursued him 
with unrelenting vigilance, which he evaded several 
times with very narrow escapes. The campaign of 
Yturbide was vigorous ; several of the best captains of 
the Independents were captured, and paid with their 
lives for their devotion to the cause of liberty. 
Among them was Matamoras. Meanwhile the first 
Mexican Congress, like many another, was not har- 
monious ; divisions arose between its deputies and its 
general. The patriot was learning that it is harder 
to keep a government well in hand than it is to seize 
it by force. 

/ In 1815 this Congress decided it would like to 
move to Tehuacan, and assigned to Morelos the task 
of escorting it thither with all the troops he held at 
his disposition. This strange march set forth in mys- 
tery and concealment on the 29th of September ; but 
in spite of the stratagems of Morelos, the royalist 
forces discovered its route, and intercepted it. More- 
los gave front to the enemy, that the honorable 
deputies and members of his Congress might have a 
chance to escape. His force was routed, he himself 
betrayed by a deserter. 

Morelos was taken to Mexico ; the ecclesiastical 
tribunes covered him with ignominy, and he was 
handed over to the military authorities. By them 
he was at once sentenced to death, and on the 22d 



MORE LOS. 255 

of December, 1815, he was shot in the small town 
San Cristobal Ecatepec, dying with the bravery of 
a hero. 

This was the end of the dark period, called the 
second, of Mexican independence. Its life was in 
its chief, the daring, patriotic Morelos. 

There is no doubt that Morelos had many of the 
great qualities for a successful leader of men. He 
was born in poverty, with no antecedents of great- 
ness ; untaught, even in the rudiments of learning, 
until he was thirty ; up to that time patiently driving 
mules along the steep paths of his native state. 
Whoever has watched the slow, though sure, prog- 
ress of these animals, and the enforced loitering in 
the pace of him who accompanies them, must be 
impressed with the idea that patience is a virtue 
likely to be developed in such training. 

Great ideas then pervaded society. It is probable 
that Morelos was more than dazzled by the brilliancy 
of Napoleon's career. Military success inflamed 
many hearts and turned many heads in those days. 
There was the making of a military commander in the 
stuff of which Morelos was compounded. With the 
opportunities of Napoleon for creating large armies, 
well equipped with all the appurtenances of warfare 
developed by the skill and science of the time, 
Morelos might have arrived at his object, the liberty 
of his country. 

There is no reason to suppose that a personal 
ambition animated him. He made himself general- 
in-chief of his army, but that was a necessary step 
for the furtherance of his designs. His fixed idea 



256 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

was that of an independent Mexico. So little was 
he tempted by the trials of prosperity, it is im- 
possible to say whether success, the sparkling foam 
of flattery, would have turned his head, as they did 
so many others, in the supreme hours of attainment. 
As it was, he died the death of a hero, leaving 
behind him a reputation pure and unsullied by the 
taint of personal ambition. 

His career was in no sense a failure. The object 
of his sacrifice was achieved in effect ; the indepen- 
dence of Mexico, although not within his own grasp, 
1 was sure. Another idea of great importance was 
'; impressed upon the Spanish in Mexico, the Spaniards 
in the mother country and the world looking on : 
I that the blood of the native Mexican was capable of 
1 great deeds, that the descendants of the Aztecs 
were something better than peoiies, slaves without 
the name. The lower class of the population of 
Anahuac raised their heads and listened. Low mur- 
murs, as of a distant ocean, told them that the tide 
of their destiny was turned, that the day was coming 
when it would break with force against the bulwarks 
built up against it. 

Morelos could die content. He had achieved for 
himself no proud seat on the throne of the Monte- 
zumas ; he asked no such reward. 

He had forcibly impressed upon his country the 
ideas first given to him and them by the Curate 
Hidalgo. The impression was not washed out, but 
made fast by the blood he caused to be shed, and 
his own. 

If glory was his aim, that he has attained. The 



MO RE LOS. 257 

Mexicans adore Morelos. His native town is bap- 
tized anew with his name, and the state bears the 
name of Morelos, which contains Cuautla, the town 
he defended for sbctj^^ztwojiays with the patience of 
the muleteer and the obstinacy of his animals. 

If the subsequent leaders of Mexican independence 
have not been always true to the example he gave 
them, of unselfish devotion to his cause, the great 
population has never wavered in its devotion to his 
memory. 

In the public square of Morelos, capital of the 
state which also bears his name, is a marble statue of 
the hero, set up during the French occupation, on 
September 30, 1865, the one hundredth anniversary 
of the birth of Morelos. The Emperor Maximilian 
presided on the occasion. 




XXVII. 

YTURBIDE. 

Calleja remained several months at the head of 
government and then returned to Spain, having 
taken vigorous measures to extinguish forever, as 
he thought, the flames of insurrection. In the last 
days of his administration he arrested and sent to a 
convent two women distinguished for their devotion 
to the cause of independence ; one of them, Dofia 
Josefa Dominguez, the wife of the man who began 
with Hidalgo the agitation of the subject. 

Calleja returned to Spain, where he was made 
Conde de Calderon. He was cruel and despotic, 
and has left in Mexico a name much detested. 

The struggle for independence continued in sev- 
eral parts of the country, but the Spanish govern- 
ment, with good troops and ample resources, either 
dispersed or routed the rebellious forces. Some of 
the chiefs of the insurrection abandoned the cause, 
accepting the indulgence offered them by the vice- 
roy, while others retired to the mountains, like 
Pelayo in the early days of Spain, when the Moors 
swept over the Peninsula, to keep active for happier 
days the sacred fire of liberty. 

The successor of Calleja, Apodaca, by his concili- 
258 



YTURBTDE. ■ 259 

atory and humane conduct, did much to tranquillize 
society near the capital, but ideas of independence 
were still working all over the country. Guerrero, 
who must be counted among the heroes of the move- 
ment, showed an unwearying activity in the cam- 
paign. Many times his forces were routed ; many 
times they triumphed ; neither success nor defeat 
made him waver. He was covered with wounds, but 
heeded them not ; he was deaf to proposals of clem- 
ency from the royalists. In the mountains of the 
south, to which he retired, he kept up constant war- 
fare upon the Spanish troops, and even set up a new 
national government. This he continued without 
falling into the hands of the royalists until 1820, 
when the course of Yturbide put a stop to a warfare 
which had lasted ten years and soaked in blood the 
soil of Anahuac. 

The French had been driven from Spain in 18 14, 
and Ferdinand VII. was again upon the throne, but 
there was a revolution in 1820, by which he was com- 
pelled to surrender much of the authority which he 
had taken upon himself in spite of his oaths and 
promises. He was obliged to convoke the Cortes, 
to change his ministers for liberals, to abolish the 
Inquisition, free the press, and re-establish the na- 
tional militia. 

Such events awoke again the demand for a liberal 
government in Mexico. It was then that an ofificer 
in the royalist army, a native Mexican, who had hith- 
erto distinguished himself on that side, now changed 
his allegiance, and took up the cause of independ- 
ence. 



26o THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The concessions forced on King Ferdinand were 
1^ celebrated in Mexico on the 31st of May, 1820, the 
^ suppression of the Inquisition and the Hbcrty of the 
press being subjects of great rejoicings. The inde- 
pendent party saw in these reforms an opportunity 
to avail themselves of the new element to realize 
their most ardent visions. A great division was pro- 
duced among the resident Spaniards of the country, 
for while some of these declared in favor of the con- 
stitution, the greater part showed themselves hostile 
to it, still clinging to ideas of absolute power, and 
foreseeing that so great a political change would 
hasten the independence of Mexico. 

Agustin de Yturbide was born in the city of 
Valladolid, not then re-named Morelia, on the 27th 
of September, 1783. His parents were of native 
Mexican blood, Joaquin de Yturbide, born in Pam- 
plona, and Ana Ardmburu. 

He had entered a royalist regiment before he was 
sixteen years old, and until 1808 he showed himself 
a vigorous opponent of the liberal party, serving with 
his troops in different parts of the country, always 
signalizing himself by his valor, his activity, and his 
adroit combinations to bring about the defeat of the 
cause opposed to his own. Through the interven- 
ing grades he passed to be colonel, and held com- 
mands of importance at Guanajuato and Valladolid. 

In the diversity of opinions of 1820, Yturbide was 
among those who accepted the idea of a complete 
separation for Mexico from the Peninsula. Just at 
that time the viceroy conferred upon him the grade 
of brigadier, and gave him command of a body of 



YTURBIDE. 261 

troops destined to operate against the insurgents of 
Guerrero in the south, 

Yturbide left the capital in November, and a month 
later found himself confronted by an enemy of some- 
thing like three thousand men. After several en- 
counters unfavorable to his command, Yturbide 
entered into an active correspondence with the op- 
posing chief, the result of which was an interview 
for friendly conference. Both generals found them- 
selves in accord, for, to the surprise of Guerrero, his 
opponent revealed an ardent desire to proclaim in- 
dependence. Guerrero, without personal ambition, 
willingly handed over the command to the renegade, 
who announced, on February 24th, the so-called 
" Plan of Iguala." 

Three essential articles made up this proposal : (i) 
the preservation of the Roman Catholic Church, with 
the exclusion of other forms of religion ; (2) the ab- 
solute independence of Mexico under the govern- 
ment of a moderate monarchy with some member of 
the reigning house of Spain upon the throne ; and (3) 
the amicable union of Spaniards and Mexicans. 
These three clauses were called the " three guaran- 
ties." When the national Mexican flag was devised 
later, its colors represented these three articles of the 
national faith — white for religious purity, green for 
union, and red for independence. The army of i 
Yturbide was known as the army of the three guar- 
anties. 

Upon this basis the contest was resumed. It found 
favor in many parts of Mexico, and the independent 
troops, with their chiefs, very generally gave in their 
adherence at once to the Plan of Iguala. 



262 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

As soon as the viceroy could recover from his 
surprise on waking up one day to find a brigadier of 
his own troops concerting a revolution, he issued 
manifestoes against the undertaking, and at once set 
about raising an army of six thousand men, which 
advanced but slowly to the field of action in the 
south, where the troops of the late brigadier had 
joined the insurgent forces. This gave time for the 
Independents to collect together the various forces 
of Bustamente and other chiefs of their way of 
thinking. Valladolid was compelled to capitulate 
for the third or fourth time in twenty years ; after- 
wards Queretaro, and, finally, Puebla, which, besieged 
by the troops of Bravo and Herrera, surrendered to 
Yturbide, who made a triumphal entry into the city 
on the 2d of August, 1821. This was the first of the 
sieges which the City of the Angels has sustained, its 
position with regard to the capital exposing it to 
every ill wind that blows in that direction. 

The viceroy, Apodaca, hearing of the rapid 
ti^iumphs of the insurgents, adopted defensive meas- 
ures. He established a permanent Junta of war, 
stopped the liberty of the press, and decreed the en- 
forced enlistment of all men between sixteen and 
sixty. But desertions were constant, the public 
spirit was aroused against government, and except 
that the pure Spaniards were in favor of it, all 
social classes were decided to overthrow the old 
regime. Even the garrison of Mexico, losing faith 
in the viceroy, conspired against him. A meeting 
inspired by these discontented troops invaded the 
viceregal palace, and informed Apodaca that his 



YTURBIDE. 263 

charge was at an end. Francisco Novella, sub- 
inspector of artillery, was hastily set up into his 
place ; the deposed viceroy left the capital next 
day with his family, and returned, with such haste as 
they could bring to pass, to Spain. 

The sub-inspector of artillery went to bed in the 
palace of the royal viceroy ; when he rose the next 
morning he found little or nothing to do. Like his 
deposed predecessor, he went on dictating measures, 
which nobody noticed, to check the revolution ; but 
this had advanced too far for sub-inspectors to lay 
hands upon. 

Not only the old insurgents came to the front, but 
the greater part of the chiefs of the royalists, 
Spanish as well as Mexican, declared for indepen- 
dence, Santa Anna, at Vera Cruz, among others. 
Yturbide placed himself at the head of all, and with 
such resources the campaign was swift and success- 
ful. Thus passed the month of July. On the 30th 
arrived at Vera Cruz a new viceroy, sent in advance, 
before insurrection was dreamed of at home, to re- 
place Apodaca, the last governor ever sent from 
Spain, Juan O'Donoju, sixty-fourth viceroy since J 
the coming of Mendoza. 

He disembarked, took the oath of office before the 
governor of Vera Cruz, and assumed the position of 
governor and captain-general. 

Yturbide hastened to meet him at Cordova on his 
way to the capital, and convinced him by the elo- 
quence of his arguments and the proof of his power, 
visible in the ample number of troops within his 
control, that discretion was the better part of valor. 



264 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The Treaty of Cordova, tlien and there settled be- 
tween these two men, declared the independence of 
Mexico, with Ferdinand VII. or some other for its 
independent sovereign, establishing a Junta of gov- 
ernment, to which O'Donojii stipulated to belong, 
provisional until a king should be found. 

These things settled, Yturbide and O'Donoju, 
hand in hand, as Yturbide and Guerrero had come 
before, approached the capital. Sub-inspector 
Novella was summoned outside the city to a con- 
ference, and not unwillingly surrendered his brief 
authority to the two harmonious chieftains. 

Yturbide paused at Toluca to collect all his forces 
and to draw in such Spanish troops as were now 
ready to accept him. On the 27th of September, 
his birthday, he made a triumphal entry into the 
capital with the army of the Independents, consisting 
of some sixteen thousand men, with sixty-eight 
pieces of artillery. They were received with im- 
mense enthusiasm, and great demonstrations of re- 
joicing signalized the end of Spanish domination, 
which had lasted three hundred years. 

On the next day, the 28th of September, the pro- 
visional Junta met, and declared itself installed 
under the presidency of Yturbide. Its thirty-eight 
members accepted by oath the Plan of Iguala and 
the Treaty of Cordova, and further issued an Act of 
Independence of the Mexican Empire, subscribed to 
by all the Junta. A government was formed, called 
the Regency, composed of Don Agustin de Yturbide, 
president, and five other members, among them 
Don Juan O'Donoju. The latter died the next 



YTURBIDE. 265 

month, and thus ended his very brief career in 
Mexico ; his place was taken by the Bishop of 
Puebla. 

Thus was formed, at a stroke, the Mexican Em- 
pire, whose wide territory extended from Guate- 
mala on the south, over lands now included in 
Texas, the two Californias, and New Mexico at the 
north. 

Many Spaniards, disgusted with this turn of affairs, 
returned to Europe with their families. Others con- 
cluded to accept the situation, and remained to 
watch the course of events. 

The new government set to work in good earnest 
to strengthen its foundations and extend its influ- 
ence. The province of Chiapas, on the Pacific coast, 
declared its emancipation from Spain, and of its 
own accord withdrew from Guatemala and incor- 
porated itself with Mexico. It still remains a Mexi- 
can state. Guatemala also declared its wish to join 
the Mexican Empire, and the Guatemalian repre- 
sentatives accordingly took their seats in the first 
Mexican Congress ; but the next year this province 
concluded to become an independent nation on its 
own account, and took itself away from the empire. 

The solemn installation of this second Mexican 
Congress took place in February, 1822, Its first act 
was to interfere with the proceedings of the Regency. 
Ill-feeling, produced by want of harmony, increased 
daily, forming parties which strongly adhered either 
to one side or the other. Of these, the original In- 
dependents, and such Spaniards as sincerely desired 
the fulfilment of the Plan of Iguala, by which a 



/'rt^ 



266 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Spanish prince was to be chosen their ruler, mani- 
fested more and more their disapproval of the Presi- 
dent of the Regency; while the other party, com- 
posed of the army, the clergy, and some Spaniards, 
had already accepted the idea of elevating Yturbide 
to a throne. 

A ferment of discordant opinions, conflicting inter- 
ests, and personal ambitions arose, in the midst of 
which came the news, naturally to be expected, that 
v-r).^ I ^^^ Cortes of Spain declared null and void the Treaty 
^ ~ I of Cordova, concerted by Yturbide and O'Donoju. 

This gave Yturbide his opportunity. On the night 
of the 1 8th of May, a movement was begun by a 
sergeant of one of the regiments, echoed imme- 
diately by various garrison corps, proclaiming Ytur- 
bide Emperor. The leader modestly referred these 
applicants to the decision of Congress, and this body, 
the next day, with soldiers all around, in the highest 
state of impatient excitement, declared, by a vote of 
y^ sixty-seven against a minority of fifteen, the Em- 
peror, under the title of Agustin I. 

Thus by rapid steps had Yturbide climbed from 
the position of a simple soldier without rank to the 
throne of the Montezumas. Wholly different from 
Morelos, he cannot be called a patriot in the highest 
sense. Probably his motive from the very beginning 
was personal ambition, in which loyalty to a king 
or to a cause had no part. He too, doubtless, had 
watched the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, at that 
time a dangerous light shining in the eyes of all 
men. Yet it must not be forgotten that if Yturbide 
worked for himself, he yet achieved, at the same 



VTURBIDE. 267 

/ 
time, the independence of his country. His throne 
was an unsteady one, but the dais erected for it to 
rest upon became the sohd platform of Hberty. 

Agustin I. took the oath of ofifice before the 
Mexican Congress, which proceeded to pass decrees 
establishing the succession to the throne, the titles 
and forms of address to be held toward the mem- 
bers of the imperial family, as well as their endow- 
ments, corresponding to their rank, details which 
turned out to be of no permanent value. 

On the 2 1st of July, Yturbide and his wife were 
anointed and crowned in the Cathedral, with all the 
solemnities and forms which have been observed in 
Europe on such occasions for centuries. 

But the Emperor was not firmly established upon 
his throne. As soon as they had recovered from 
their fright and surprise, many of the deputies, who 
had voted unwillingly with the majority, began to 
impede the course of Yturbide. All parties who 
had any reason for discontent made common cause 
against the Emperor. Signs of dissatisfaction reached 
Yturbide, who invited the struggle by dissolving 
Congress. In place of this assembly he established 
a Junta more under his own control ; and, rid of the 
troublesome Congress, proceeded to issue edicts, 
and make forced loans to carry on his empire. 

Suddenly, on the 6th of December, the Republic 
was proclaimed at Vera Cruz. Yturbide happened 
to be in Puebla at the time. He hastened to Mexico, 
and sent a division of troops to Vera Cruz to defend 
his title and put down the insurrection. 

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was at the head of 



268 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

this movement, a general in the Spanish army, who 
had lately come into the views of the revolutionists. 
At Vera Cruz a plan was formed called the Casa- 
Mata, approved of by Bravo, Guerrero, and other 
generals, which, in substance, proclaimed the deposi- 
tion of Yturbide ; everywhere it was accepted by the 
generals of armies throughout the country, so that, 
by the end of a month, Yturbide found himself alone 
in the city of Mexico. Unwilling to light the fires 
I of civil war, he acknowledged himself vanquished, 
and abdicated, retiring from the capital with his 
family. Congress closed in behind him, pronounced 
the whole episode of the Empire a work of violence 
and force, so that the hereditary succession was null. 
Yturbide was declared banished from the country, 
while,at the same time, a life annuity was voted to him 
of $25,000 in recognition of his services to the nation. 

Thus disappeared, as suddenly as it had risen, the 
phantom of a second Empire in the realm of the 
Aztecs. 

Yturbide left the country with his family upon an 
English vessel bound for Leghorn. A few months 
later he wrote from London to the home govern- 
ment, warning them of European schemes to restore 
Spanish rule in Mexico, and offering his services to 
his country should such an attempt be made. 

The ruling powers were afraid of a popular revul- 
sion in his favor, and regarded it as altogether safest 
to keep him at a distance. The reply of Congress 
to this letter was to pass a decree declaring Yturbide 
a traitor to his country, as such to be put to death 
whenever he should return to Mexico. 



,^ 



270 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

' Wholly in ignorance of this decree, and sanguine 
of the good effect his letter might produce, the un- 
suspecting ex-Emperor did return to Mexico with 
the intention of fulfilling his offer of usefulness — it 
may be in the hope of a return to favor. On the 
14th of July, 1824, Yturbide, with all his family, 
arrived at the little port of Soto la Marina in an 
English sailing-vessel. He was recognized by the 
general of the troops of Tamaulipas, the state in 
which he was, and disembarked. A few moments 
afterwards an ofificial presented himself, with hesita- 
tion, saying it was his duty to inform him that he 
must prepare to die, in conformity with the decree 
issued against him in the month of April. 

In vain Yturbide protested he was utterly ignorant 
of the decree. He was taken to Padilla, where the 
Congress of the state of Tamaulipas was summoned 
to an extraordinary session to deliberate upon his 
case. A hot discussion resulted in the decision that 
Yturbide must be shot, and without the slightest 
delay this decree was executed close to the church 
in the streets of Padilla. 

His last words were : " Mexicans ! in the very 
moment of my execution I recommend to you the 
love of our country and devotion to our holy re- 
ligion, that thus we shall be led to glory. I die be- 
cause I came to help you. I die gladly, because I 
die among you. * I die with honor, not as a traitor. 
I leave no stain of treason to my children. No. I 
am not a traitor ! " 

It is impossible not to pity the hard fate of 
Yturbide and his violent death. He was not a 



YTURBIDE. 271 

traitor to his country in the worst sense of the term, 
and deserves the title less than many another of his 
contemporaries who' have met a milder judgment. 
Although he turned the government into an Empire 
for the sake of his own personal ambition, he had in 
his short career as Emperor done it no harm ; on the 
other hand, he resigned quietly for the sake of peace. 
Doubtless a little delay would have averted the 
tragedy, as those who wished him out of the way 
were well aware. His life might have promoted the 
future welfare of his country ; his death certainly 
produced no good result. Too many hands were 
grasping at the prize he had coveted for his to be 
missed when it was forcibly beaten off. 

He was personally brave and active, handsome, " 
fond of display, and full of vanity, which caused him 
to delight in the splendor of state. He was at the 
height of his ambition when he was proclaimed 
Emperor, the horses taken from his carriage, and the 
crowd, drawing him along the streets, shouting 
vivas for the new Emperor. He forgot, at a time 
when it is easiest to forget, how cheap are such 
manifestations of enthusiasm from an easily excited 
and mobile population. He forgot that as he had 
conspired against others, others in their turn not 
only could, but would, seek to pull him down. 

Whatever his faults or failings, it is nevertheless 
true that his act freed the country from the control 
of Spain. This is fully recognized in his birthplace, 
Morelia, where the house of his birth bears the 
inscription : 

"LIBERTADOR DE MEXICO." 



XXVIII. 



SANTA ANNA. 



The story of Mexico becomes so confused after 
the fall of the Empire of Agustin I. that it is diffi- 
cult to understand. " Plans," pronunciamentos, rev- 
olutions, restorations, followed each other in quick 
succession. Generals, dictators, presidents, sprang 
from the soil ready-made, to exercise for a few days 
their brief authority, and vanish as quickly. 

A few prominent names constantly recur, cling- 
ing to the wheel of fortune, which turned at that 
time in Mexico with singular swiftness. Each of 
these went down one day and the next up. Still 
with pertinacity they held on, each rejoicing in his 
own turn at the top, not only on his own account, but 
in the satisfaction of seeing the others beneath him. 
In their wild merry-go-round they seem to have lost 
sight of the value of the position itself, which made 
the object of their revolutions. Was it a crown, a 
dictator's chair, the simple dignity of a president's 
wand of office, they heeded little. The thought of 
establishing a genuine republic was far enough from 
anybody's mind in the early days of the century. To 
guide us through the puzzling labyrinth at this period 
in Mexican affairs, we will follow the thread of one 

272 



SANTA ANNA. 2/3 

career — the life of a man who, without the highest 
characteristics of a real hero, was mixed up in every 
event which took place on the plateau of Anahuac, 
from the beginning of the struggle to the end. 

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was born in Jalapa, 
Feb. 21, 1798, sixty-six years to a day after the birth 
of George Washington, whose footsteps, if he followed 
at all, it was in an erring manner. He first made his 
appearance in public, as we have seen, fighting in 
the war of independence; it was he who, in 1821, 
expelled the royalists from Vera Cruz, and took 
possession of the city. Yturbide thus owed to him, 
in part, his success, but it was no intention of Santa 
Anna's to make an emperor of him, and he applied 
the same vigor in pulling him down from the throne, 
that he had to smooth the way to it. This effected, 
he withdrew to his estates in Jalapa, accepting the 
federal government decreed by Congress the 4th of 
October, 1824. 

This Constitution, wisely drawn up in accordance 
with the best models, provided an excellent system 
of government, if it could be adhered to. Don Felix 
Fernandez Victoria, an army general, called by the 
people Guadalupe Victoria, on account of the inter- 
vention in his favor against the Spanish, as they 
believed, of the patron saint of Mexico, Our Lady 
of Guadalupe, assumed ofifice in 1824, and kept it for 
two years without any commotion. He is described 
by Madame Calderon as a plain, uneducated, well- 
intentioned man, brave and enduring. She gives 
an anecdote to his credit. When Yturbide, alone, 
fallen, and a prisoner, was banished from Mexico, 



274 "^^^^'^ STORY OF MEXICO. 

General Bravo, who had the charge of conducting 
him to Vera Cruz, treated him with every species of 
indignity. Victoria, on the other hand, who had 
been the sworn foe of the Emperor during his pros- 
perity, now, when orders were given him to see 
Yturbide embarked, surrounded him with respectful 
attentions; so that Yturbide himself, after express- 
ing his warm esteem for the General's generous 
conduct, presented him with his watch, as a memorial 
of his gratitude. 

During his term, the legislature decreed the 
expulsion of the Spanish from Mexico. Many 
military chiefs were violently anxious for this meas- 
ure, and it became a law before the end of the 
year. In consequence of this arbitrary decision, 
worthy of an earlier century and of Philip III., who 
drove out of Spain the Moriscoes to the lasting 
injury of the country, many families left Mexico, 
taking with them their wealth, and the source of 
income caused by their requirements. It is said 
that a great many Spaniards settled in Bordeaux 
which thus increased in size and prosperity. Be- 
tween two countries, of which neither claimed them, 
although to each they had a claim, these exiles are 
to be regarded as victims of the injudicious legis- 
lation of the first republican Congress of Mexico. 

The close of Victoria's term was disturbed by one 
or two conspiracies, civil wars, pronunciamentos, and 
" Plans." The presidential election of 1828 was 
marked by formidable divisions. The extreme lib- 
erals and the conservatives formed two great politi- 
cal powers, which, with others representing every 



SANTA ANNA. ' 2/5 

shade of possible opinion, kept the country in a 
state of disturbance. The unfortunate precedent of \ 
appealing to arms after an election, instead of sub- 
mitting to the result of the ballot, became so estab- 
lished that the elections were little more than a 
farce. Pedraza, the conservative candidate, was 
chosen against Guerrero, liberal, by a majority of 
two. Santa Anna upon this pronotmced in Perote, 
declaring the election of Guerrero valid. Attacked 
by the troops of the regular army, if such it may be 
called, he entrenched himself in Oaxaca, in the Con- 
vent of St. Domingo, where he defended himself 
with the greatest bravery and ingenuity, until events 
made it useless to contest him any longer, and he 
was released. 

A mutiny broke out in the capital, Pedraza 
fled to Vera Cruz and thence to New Orleans ; 
flames burst forth all over the city, threatening its 
destruction, while the populace ran about crying 
" Viva la Libertad ! " The Parian, where great wealth 
of gold, jewels, and rich stuff were stored, was ut- 
terly destroyed. From December 3d for several 
days the town was given over to pillage, the doors 
of the warehouses were driven in, and every thing 
seized. The greatest confusion, anarchy in fact, 
reigned in the capital, beyond any effort on the part 
of the revolutionary leaders to restrain the disorder. 
For more than a month afterward stolen goods from 
the Parian were openly sold in the public squares. 
The desolation of the city on the night after the 
first outburst is described by one of the principal 
actors. The sack, which had begun in the morning 



2/6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

of the 3d,' had ceased for the night. Sepulchral 
silence reigned in the vast city. " In the palace was 
General Victoria, alone, abandoned even by his 
servants. The shops and warehouses stood open 
and empty, with shattered doors, their contents 
carried off and strewn about the streets. Not a 
voice was to be heard but the sound of the hour an- 
nounced by the sereno, from time to time breaking 
the silence which had fallen upon the inhabitants of 
the capital. 

Thus closed the year 1828, and the government of 
the first President. During his term Texas was col- 
onized by Austin, with three hundred families, an 
event to be remembered on account of its connec- 
tion with the war of the United States. In the same 
year the government of the United States recog- 
nized the independence of Mexico. 

Manuel Gomez Pedraza, by virtue of his majority 
of two, assumed the of^ce of President. As an 
officer in the Spanish army he was distinguished for 
his severe discipline and strict moral conduct. He 
had supported Yturbide, who made him Commander- 
General of Mexico. He was Minister of War under 
Victoria, in which oflfice he was distinguished for his 
great activity. 

The ferment which succeeded the election was in- 
creased by the reports of Santa Anna's conduct at 
Oaxaca. The army besieging him melted and ran 
off. Both Pedraza and Guerrero disappeared. 

Pedraza left the Republic. After another revolu- 
tion, hearing that " the Constitution and laws were 
established," he returned to Vera Cruz, but was met 



SANTA ANNA. 2'jy 

by an order which forbade him to enter the country, 
and he withdrew to New Orleans, to bide his time, 
while Congress declared in favor of Guerrero, who 
ventured to return and try his hand as President. 

Santa Anna distinguished himself by resisting the 
troops sent by Spain, somewhat late, after the 
manana methods of both countries, to resent the 
secession of their dependent colony. A Spanish 
force from Cuba, by royal mandate of King Ferdi- 
nand, landed at Tampico. This invasion aroused 
the patriotism of the country. Santa Anna, with- 
out waiting for any orders, fitted out a force in Vera 
Cruz and advanced against the invaders, combining 
on his way with the troops of government. Their 
action was vigorous, and the Spanish commander, 
Barradas, capitulated after two days, and returned 
to Cuba with what was left of his army. This was 
the only attempt made by Spain to win back her 
lost province. The wealth which Cortes had poured 
into her coffers had long ceased to flow with regu- 
larity, and its source was now shut off from her. 

In reward for this good service, Santa Anna was 
made Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief by 
President Guerrero, but instead of being grateful, 
he turned his powers against him, and with the 
army overthrew his government and put Bustamente 
in his place. This general was already Vice-Presi- 
dent ; he and Santa Anna pronounced the Plan of 
Jalapa, at that place. Guerrero set out at the head 
of a few troops, but scarcely had he left the city 
when the garrison there, pronounced in favor of one 
Bocanegro. Between two pronunciamentos, Guar- 



278 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

rero once more withdrew to the mountains of the 
south, where he took arms against his enemies, and 
Bustamente became President. It was under his 
government that a disgraceful method was taken to 
get rid of Guerrero. Persuaded that they could not 
conquer him in open field, the ruling party bribed a 
Genoese sailor to decoy Guerrero on board his lit- 
tle bark, Colombo, in the bay of Acapulco. The Gen- 
eral was invited to dinner as a guest, and accepted 
in good faith. No sooner was the meal over than 
he was told of the plot. Without power to resist, he 
saw the sails set, and was carried forcibly to the little 
bark, on which he was forcibly detained, heading 
towards another port, where he was handed over to his 
enemies. A few officials went through the form of 
a military trial and condemned him to death. He was 
shot, in the pueblo of Cuilapa, on the 15th of Feb- 
ruary, 1831. Guerrero is regarded as one of the 
martyrs of the country, and two monuments in his 
honor adorn the city of Mexico. 

Bustamente did not long enjoy his repose. Santa 
Anna pronounced again in favor of his former oppo- 
nent, Pedraza, who, in the opinion of many, had 
never stopped being President. But early in 1833 
our Mexican Warwick, yielding to popular pressure, 
consented to be President himself. He now left the 
radical party and, like many another reformer in 
ofifice, became conservative and joined the Central- 
ists. He was a favorite with the army, who after a 
time made him Dictator, in spite of the distrust of 
the nation, who believed that he aimed at imperial 
dignities. 



SANTA ANNA. 279 

The Vice-President at this time was Valentin 
Gomez Farias, whose merits deserve notice. He 
was a native of Guadalajara, born in February, 1781. 
He studied medicine, and made good advances in 
the scientific discoveries of his time. He was ap- 
pointed to the Cortes of Spain ; but organized in- 
stead a battaHon in aid of Hidalgo in the cause of 
independence, sacrificing to it his career and his per- 
sonal fortune. He was elected deputy to the Con- 
gress of Morelos, and afterwards made governor of 
the state of Zacatecas. In 1833 he was chosen ? ^^ 

Vice-President, and, events afterwards bringing him 
to occupy the first place in the government, he dis- 
played great capacity for business and the cares of 
ofifice, repressing pronunciamentos, unmasking in- 
trigues, and preserving always an honorable reputa- 
tion. Forced to abandon the presidency, he escaped 
to the United States to avoid assassination, .selling 
his ample library to raise funds, thus leaving Santa 
Anna in full possession of the field. The Federal 
Constitution was done away with, state legislatures 
abolished, and the governors of the states became 
dependent upon central power. 

The insurrection in Texas now broke out into 
open rebellion. Santa Anna took the field in 
person, reaching the Rio Grande del Norte with an 
army of six thousand men in February, 1836. He 
at first was successful, but after one or two triumphs 
his army was completely routed, and ^he himself 
made prisoner by the Texan army under Houston. 
Santa Anna was taken to the United States by his 
conquerors. During his captivity he made a treaty 



280 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

with the Texans, which amounted to nothing at all, 
as his functions were suspended by the Mexican 
government. The next year he was set at liberty 
and returned to his native country. He was coldly 
received, and at the presidential election that year 
received only two electoral votes out of sixty-nine. 

He again retired to his estate near Jalapa, twenty- 
seven miles from Vera Cruz ; and, we may suppose, 
contemplated with content a period of repose after 
action, and an opportunity to renew the acquaint- 
ance of his family, from which a life of such variety 
had separated him. 





XXIX. 



STILL SANTA ANNA. 



The Bourbons had regained possession of the 
government of France, and Louis Philippe, under 
the title of King of the French, was upon the 
throne. He was the head of the younger branch 
of the Bourbons, Duke of Orleans. Military glory 
was a requisite to his security upon the throne ; 
among other enterprises the government sent an 
expedition to Mexico to settle by force a long- 
pending discussion of demands due them since their 
civil wars, as damages incurred by French citizens. 
One of the items of this claim was sixty thousand 
dollars demanded by a French cook for pastry stolen 
from him by revolutionists. The claim received the 
name of the reclamacion de los pasteles, a claim for 
pie. It was denied in toto by the Mexican govern- 
ment. The French squadron, commanded by the 
Prince de Joinville, captured the fortress of San 
Juan de Uloa, and occupied Vera Cruz on the 5th 
of December. 

Out came Santa Anna and offered his services, and 
taking command after the fall of the castle, he re- 
pelled the French from the city and forced them to 
return to their ships. In this encounter he received 

281 



252 THE STOKY OF MEXICO. 

a wound in the leg, which made it necessary to 
amputate it, and afterwards he always wore a 
wooden leg. Mexico in the end consented to make 
a treaty of peace by paying the sum demanded, — 

I and the French fleet sailed away. 

Madame Calderon describes the home of Santa 
Anna at Manga la Clava, twenty-seven miles from 
Vera Cruz, approached through a wilderness of trees 
and flowers, the growth of the tierra caliente, and 
passing over leagues of natural garden, the property 
of Santa Anna. 

The house was pretty and in nice order. General 

' Santa Anna was a gentlemanly, good-looking, 
quietly dressed, rather melancholy-looking person, 

\ with a wooden leg. Knowing nothing of his past 
history, he might have been thought a philosopher, 
living in dignified retirement, one who had tried the 
world and found it all vanity, one who had suffered 
ingratitude, and who, if he were ever persuaded to 
emerge from his retreat, would only do so, like Cin- 
cinnatus, for the benefit of his country. 

It was only now and then in conversation that the 
! expression of his eye was startling, especially when 
he spoke of his leg, which was cut ofT below the 
knee. He gave an account of the wound, and in 
alluding to the French his countenance assumed an 
alarming appearance of bitterness. 

In 1837 Bustamente was recalled. On the succes- 
sion of Pedraza to the presidency, he had been ban- 
ished, and went away to pursue his medical studies in 
France ; for he, like Farias, had received a diploma 
as doctor of medicine, and had been the family phy- 



STILL SANTA ANNA. 



283 



sician of the viceroy Calleja. He returned to Mexico 
on the outbreak of the Texan revolution, was made 
President, and filled the ofifice with dignity and re- 
spectability, whenever he was allowed to, by his untir- 
ing enemy, or rival, Santa Anna, who, however, was 
sometimes on his side. In 1840 there was trouble 




INDIAN HUT IN THE TIERRA CALIENTE. 

again, with Santa Anna at the head of the govern- 
ment forces. Against him was arrayed General 
Mejia, a Mexican known for his valor, which amount- 
ed to rashness. He was a rival and personal enemy 
to Santa Anna, and the struggle-between them was 



284 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

a duel h la viort. Fate was against Mejia and he 
perished. Taken prisoner on the field of battle at 
the hacienda La Blanca, he was shot. It is said 
that, being informed of the sentence of death passed 
upon him, he asked when he was to be shot. 

" In three hours," answered the official. 

" If Santa Anna had fallen into my power, I 
should have given him only three minutes," was his 
reply. 

There have been other generals of the same name 
and family who have shown equal bravery in death. 

In September, 1841, occurred another brief revo- 
lution, so fully described by Madame Calderon, that 
it may serve as a specimen. She says : 

" This revolution is like a game of chess, in which 
kings, castles, knights, and bishops are making differ- 
ent moves, while the pawns are looking on and 
taking no part whatever. 

" To understand the state of the board, it is neces- 
sary to explain the position of the four principal 
pieces, — Santa Anna, Bustamente, Paredes, and Val- 
encia. The first move was made by Paredes, who 
published his ' Plan,' and pronounced on the 8th 
of August, at Guadalajara. Shortly after a news- 
paper of Vera Cruz, entirely devoted to Santa Anna, 
pronounced in favor of the ' Plan * of Paredes, and 
Santa Anna, with a few miserable troops, and a 
handful of cavalry, arrived at Perote. Here he re- 
mains for the present, kept in check by the govern- 
ment forces. Meanwhile Paredes, with about six 
hundred men, left Guadalajara and marched upon 
Guanajuato, and there a blow was given to the 



SriLL SANTA ANNA. 285 

government party through the defection of General 
Cortazar, who thought fit thus to show his grateful 
sense of having just received the rank of general of 
brigade, with the insignia of this new grade, which 
the President put on with his own hands. Another 
check to the President. Once begun, defection 
spread rapidly, and Paredes and Cortazar, having 
advanced upon Quer^taro, found that the General 
there had pronounced just at the moment he was 
expected in Mexico to assist the government. 

'' Meanwhile General Valencia, pressed to declare 
his 'Plan,' has replied that he awaits the announce- 
ment of the intention of the Generals Paredes and 
Santa Anna, and for his own part he only desires the 
dismissal of Bustamente. 

" This, then, is the position of the three pro- 
nounced chiefs, on this second day of September of 
the year of our Lord, 1841 : Santa Anna in Perote, /V/ / 
hesitating whether to advance or retreat, and in fact 
prevented from doing either; Paredes in Queretaro, 
with the other revolted generals ; Valencia in the 
citadel of Mexico with his pronunciados ; while Bus- 
tamente, the mark against which all these hostile 
operations are directed, is determined, it is said, to 
fight to the last. 

" Mexico looks as if it had got a general holiday. 
Shops shut up and all business at a stand. The 
people with the utmost apathy are collected in 
groups talking quietly ; ofificers are galloping about, 
generals in a somewhat party-colored dress, with 
large gray hats (sombreros), striped pantaloons, old 
coats, and generals' belts, fine horses, and crimson 



286 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

velvet saddles. The shopkeepers in the square have 
been removing their goods and money. An occa- 
sional shot is heard, sometimes a volley, followed by 
a dead silence. The archbishop shows his reverend 
face now and then upon the balcony of his palace, 
looks out a little while, and then retires. The chief 
efTect so far is universal idleness for man and beast, 
the soldiers and their quadrupeds excepted. 

" It is said that the Federalists are very much 
elated, hoping for the eventual triumph of their party^ 
in consequence of a proclamation by Valencia which 
appeared two days ago. Since then the revolution 
has taken the name of liberal and is supported by 
men of name, the Pedrazas, Belderas, Riva Palacio, 
which is of great importance to Valencia. Besides 
this it is said that certain rich bankers, on the side of 
i\\& pronunciados are constantly supplying the citadel 
with cart-loads of copper. 

" The conduct of the people is a constant source of 
surprise. Left entirely uncurbed, no one to direct 
them, thousands out of employment, many without 
bread, they do not complain, and scarcely seem to 
feel any interest in the result. How easily might 
such a people be directed for their good ! It is said 
that all their apathetic sympathies are in favor of 
Bustamente." 

Several days later she describes the army of the 
/rd?;///7z«W<?5 on their way to the capital : "The in- 
fantry, it must be confessed, was in a ragged and 
rather drunken condition ; the cavalry, better clad, 
have borrowed fresh horses as they went along, 
which, with their high saddles, bronzed faces, and 



STILL SANTA ANNA. 28/ 

picturesque attire, had a fine effect as they passed 
along under the burning sun. The sick followed on 
asses, and amongst them various masculine women, 
with serapes and large straw hats, tied down with 
colored handkerchiefs, mounted on mules or horses. 
The sumpter-mules followed, carrying provisions, 
camp-beds, etc., and Indian women trotted on foot 
in the rear, carrying their husbands' boots and 
clothes. The game is nearly up now. Check from 
two knights and a castle- — Santa Anna and Paredes 
in Tacubaya, and Valencia in the citadel. 

"The end of this, after some little firing on both 
sides, was a capitulation. Bustamente renounced the 
presidency, and Santa Anna was triumphant. He 
made his solemn entry into the capital, with the 
Generals Valencia and Canalizo at the head of the 
forces. Not a solitary viva was heard as they passed 
along the streets, nor afterwards, during his speech 
in Congress. Immediately after the ceremony 
Santa Anna retired to the archbishop's palace, in 
Tacubaya, in a splendid coach, drawn by four beau- 
tiful white horses, a retinue of other carriages, 
brilliant aides-de-camp, and an immense escort of 
cavalry. 

"Thus ended the revolution of 1841 : but no one 
felt that its results were going to be permanent. 

" On the 4th of November a great function was 
given in the opera of the capital in honor of his Ex- 
cellency. The theatre was brilliantly illuminated 
with wax lights. Two principal boxes were thrown 
into one for the President and his suite, and lined with 
crimson and gold, with draperies of the same. The 



288 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

staircase leading to the box was lighted by rows of 
footmen all the way up, in crimson and gold livery. 
A crowd of gentlemen stood waiting in the lobby for 
the arrival of the hero of the fete. He came at 
last, in regal state, carriages and outriders at full 
gallop, himself, staff, and suite in splendid uniforms. 
As he entered, the libretto of the opera was pre- 
sented to him, bound in red and gold. His expres- 
sion was resigned and rather melancholy, his man- 
ner grave but agreeable ; surrounded by pompous 
officers, he alone looked quiet, gentlemanly, and 
high-bred. 

"The theatre was crowded to suffocation — boxes, 
pit, and galleries. There was no applause as he en- 
tered. One solitary voice in the pit said : ' Viva 
Santa Anna ! ' but it seemed checked by a slight 
movement of disapprobation, scarcely amounting to 
a murmur. 

"The generals, in their scarlet and gold uniforms, 
sat, like peacocks, surrounding Santa Anna, who 
looked modest and retiring, as if quite unaccustomed 
to public gaze." 

General Bustamente, as usual, resigned his power 
to Santa Anna without further struggle, and with- 
drew to Europe, where he remained several years. 
After the fall of Santa Anna in 1845, he returned to 
his country, establishing his residence in the in- 
terior. He died a natural death in San Miguel de 
Allende in 1853. 

We will leave Santa Anna in his opera-box, sur- 
rounded by brilliant officers and fair ladies spark- 
ling with diamonds, until the time comes to take up 
his story again. 




XXX. 

SOCIETY. 

A CLEAR picture of the state of society in Mexico, 
at this period is given in the journal, before quoted, 
of Madame Calderon de la Barca, published without 
her name in 1843, with a preface by Prescott, the 
historian. 

For some time after the violent separation of the 
colony from the mother country, Spain made no ef- 
fort to recognize her truant, groAvn-up Mexico. It 
was not until 1839 that its independence was finally 
acknowledged, and its right to be regarded as a 
friendly state, by Spain. In that year Senor Don 
Calderon de la Barca was sent by Ferdinand VII. as 
accredited Ambassador to the Republic of Mexico 
where Bustamente was then President. The occa- 
sion was hailed with satisfaction by all parties as a 
signal of peace between the two countries; the re- 
maining Mexicans of Spanish blood especially hailed 
the arrival of such an agreeable accession to society 
as Madame Calderon, a very accomplished woman, 
whose lively letters, not at all intended for publica- 
tion, give an account of Mexican scenery and man- 
ners, useful to help us in our knowledge of them at 
that time, a sort of interregnum between the old 

290 



SOCIETY. 291 

Spanish influences and the present full-fledged con- 
dition of the Republic. Civil war had already much 
disturbed the old Spanish landmarks, but much re- 
mained of the customs of provincial society, espe- 
cially among the higher class in the capital. Balls, 
receptions, the opera, were kept up with something 
of the splendor of viceregal days, their revival stim- 
ulated by this fresh arrival from a European court. 

Madame Calderon loved to wander under the cy- 
presses of Chapultepec. In her day the viceregal 
apartments were lonely and abandoned, for the gov- 
ernor, in whose hands they then were, did not care to 
live there. The walls were falling to ruin, the glass 
of the windows and the carved work of the doors 
had been sold, so that the interior was exposed to 
every wind that blew around the lofty height. 

She describes the gayety of the Pas^o, a long, broad 
avenue planted with trees, with a large stone foun- 
tain, whose sparkling waters were cool and pleasant, 
ornamented by a gilt statue of Victory. Here, every 
evening, but more especially Sundays and fete days, 
were to be seen two long rows of carriages filled with 
ladies, crowds of gentlemen on horseback riding 
down the middle between them, soldiers at intervals 
keeping order, and multitudes of common people 
and beggars on foot. The carriages were for the 
most part extremely handsome — European coaches 
with fine horses and odd liveries, others in the old 
Mexican fashion, heavy and covered with gilding. 
Hackney-coaches drawn by mules were seen among 
the finer equipages. Most families had both horses 
and mules in their stables, the latter animal requir- 



292 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

ing less care than a horse, and capable of enduring 
more fatigue. Carratelas, open at the sides, with 
glass windows, were filled with ladies in full toilet, 
without mantillas, their heads uncovered and gen- 
erally coiffc'es with flowers as jewels. Equestrians, 
on fine horses and handsome Mexican asses, passed 
and repassed the carriages without stopping for con- 
versation. Her favorite promenade was the Viga, 
where, as in Montezuma's time and long before, in 
Humboldt's, in our own, the Indians, early in the 
morning, brought flowers and vegetables to market 
by the canal. There was profusion of sweet peas, 
double poppies, blue-bottles, stock gilly-flowers and 
roses. Each Indian woman in her canoa looked as if 
seated in a floating flower-garden, crowned with gar- 
lands of roses or poppies. " Those who sit in the 
market," she says, " selling their fruit or vegetables, 
appear as if in bowers formed of fresh green branches 
and many-colored flowers. In the poorest village 
church the floor is strewed with flowers, and with 
flowers are adorned the baby at its christening, the 
bride at the altar, the dead body upon the bier." 

In answer to questions about the society women 
of Mexico, Madame Calderon writes: "I must put 
aside exceptions, which are always rising up before 
me, and write en masse. Generally speaking, the 
Mexican seiioras and seiioritas write, read, and play 
a little ; sew, and take care of their houses and chil- 
dren. When I say they read, I mean they know how 
to read ; when I say they write, I do not mean that 
they can always spell, and when I say they play, I 
do not assert that they have a general knowledge of 



^94 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

music. The climate inclines every one to indolence, 
both physical and moral. One cannot pore over a 
book when the blue sky is constantly smiling in at 
the open windows." She says that there are no 
women in the world more affectionate in their man- 
ners than the Mexicans, and that they invariably 
make excellent wives, if they are settled at home 
with their husbands. 

Madame Calderon describes the appearance of the 
Plaza on Good-Friday: 

" The most beautiful and original scene was pre- 
sented towards sunset in the great square, and it is 
doubtful whether any other city in the world could 
present a coup d'oeil of equal brilliancy. The Plaza 
itself, even on ordinary days, is a noble square, and 
but for its one fault, a row of shops called the 
Parian, which breaks its uniformity, would, be nearly 
unrivalled. Every object is interesting. The eye 
wanders from the Cathedral to the house of Cortes 
(the Monte de Piedad), and from thence to a range 
of fine buildings, with lofty arcades to the west. 
From a balcony we could see all the different 
streets that branch out from the square covered 
with gay crowds pouring in that direction to see a 
great procession which was expected to pass in front 
of the palace. Booths, filled with refreshments and 
covered with green branches and garlands of flowers, 
were to be seen in all directions, surrounded by a 
crowd quenching their thirst with orgeat, lemonade, 
or pulque. The whole square, from the Cathedral 
to the por tales, was covered with thousands and tens 
of thousands of figures, all in their gayest dresses, 



SOCiETY. 295 

and as the sun poured his rays down upon their gaudy 
colors, they looked like armies of living tulips. Here 
was to be seen a group of ladies, some with black 
gowns and mantillas, others, now that their church- 
going duty was over, equipped in velvet or satin, 
with their hair dressed — and beautiful hair they have ; 
some leading their children by the hand, dressed — 
alas, how they were dressed ! Long, velvet gowns 
trimmed with blonde, diamond earrings, high French 
caps befurbelowed with lace and flowers, or turbans 
with plumes of feathers. Now and then, the head of 
a little thing that could hardly waddle alone, might 
have belonged to an English dowager-duchess in 
her opera-box. Some had extraordinary bonnets, 
and as they toddled along, top-heavy, one would 
have thought they were little old women, without a 
glimpse caught of their lovely little brown faces and 
blue eyes. The children here are very beautiful ; 
.they have little color, with swimming black or hazel 
eyes, and long lashes resting on the clear pale cheek, 
and a mass of fine dark hair plaited down behind. 

" As a contrast to the senoras, with their over- 
dressed beauties, were the poor Indian women, trot- 
ting across the square, their black hair plaited with 
dirty red ribbon, a piece of woollen cloth wrapped 
round them, and a little mahogany baby hanging 
behind, its face upturned to the sky, and its head 
jerking along, somehow, without its neck being dis- 
located. The most resigned expression on earth is 
that of an Indian baby. All these groups are col- 
lected by hundreds, the women of the shop-keeper 
class in their small white embroidered gowns, with 



296 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

white satin shoes and neat feet and ankles, rebozos, 
or bright shawls, thrown over their heads ; the peas- 
ants and countrywomen, with short petticoats of 
two colors, generally scarlet and yellow, thin satin 
shoes and lace-trimmed chemises, or bronze-colored 
damsels, all crowned with flowers, strolling along, 
tingling light guitars. 

"Add to this motley crowd, men dressed a la Mex- 
icaine, with large ornamented hats and serapes, or 
embroidered jackets, sauntering along, smoking 
their cigars ; Ic'peros, in rags, Indians in blankets, of- 
ficers in uniform, priests in their shovel hats, monks 
of every order ; Frenchmen exercising their wit 
upon the passers-by ; Englishmen looking on, cold 
and philosophical ; Germans gazing through their 
spectacles, mild and mystical ; Spaniards, seeming 
pretty much at home, abstaining from remarks; 
and it may be conceived that the scene, at least, 
presents variety. 

" Suddenly the tinkling of a bell announces the 
approach of Niiestro Aino (the Host). Instantly the 
whole crowd are on their knees, crossing themselves 
devoutly. Disputes are hushed, flirtations arrested, 
and to the busy hum of voices succeeds a pro- 
found silence, filled only by the rolling of coach- 
wheels and the sound of the little bell." 

This scene is almost the same to-day in the pub- 
lic square on Good-Friday. The costumes of the 
higher class have now surrendered to conventional 
Paris models, but there is a tendency to gaudiness 
and display, defying fashion, which makes a Mexi- 
can crowd brig'ht with varieg-ated color. 



SOCIETY. 297 

Madame Calderon's accounts of the unsettled 
state of the country are comforting, as showing the 
immense advance in this respect, in the forty years 
since she was in Mexico. 

Describing an hacienda not far from the capital, 
she says : " It is under the charge of an adininis- 
trador, who receives from its owner a large annual 
sum, and whose place is by no means a sinecure, as 
he lives in perpetual danger from robbers. He is 
captain of a troop of soldiers, and as his life has 
been spent in persecuting robbers, he is an object of 
intense hatred to that free and independent body. 
He gave us a terrible account of night attacks from 
these men and of his ineffectual attempts to bring 
them to justice. He lately told the President that 
he thought of joining the robbers himself, as they 
were the only persons in the Republic protected by 
government." 

" This pestilence of robbers," she says, " which 
infests the Republic, has never been eradicated. 
They are, in fact, the outgrowth of the civil war. 
Sometimes, in the guise of insurgents, taking an 
active part in the independence, they have inde- 
pendently laid waste the country, robbing all they 
met. As expellers of the Spaniards, these armed 
bands infested the roads between Vera Cruz and 
the capital, ruined all commerce, and without any 
particular inquiry into political opinions, robbed 
and murdered in all directions. Whatever meas- 
ures have been from time to time taken to eradi- 
cate this evil, its causes remain, and the idle and 
unprincipled will always take advantage of the dis- 



298 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

organized state of the country to obtain by force 
what they might gain by honest labor." 

Frequent crosses by the roadside were marks of 
murders committed by these highwaymen, yet the 
Mexican robbers had the reputation of being kind 
and considerate bandits. She relates, as a proof of 
their occasional moderation, that some ladies " were 
travelling from Mexico with a padre, when they 
were met by a party of robbers, who stopped the 
coach, and seized every thing, amongst other articles 
of value, a number of silver dishes. The padre ob- 
served to them that as the plate did not belong to 
the ladies, but was lent them by a friend, they 
would be obliged to replace it, and requested that 
one might be left as a pattern. The reasonable 
creatures instantly returned one dish and a cover. 

" Another time, having completely stripped an 
English gentleman and his servant, and tied them 
both to a tree, observing that the man appeared dis- 
tressed at the loss of his master's shoes, they polite- 
ly returned and laid the shoes beside the gentle- 
man." 

This drawback to Mexican travel, the terrible bug- 
bear which still deters many timid people from ven- 
turing themselves in the country, has ceased to 
exist since the establishment of real law and order 
in the Republic, and especially since railroads have 
penetrated all the important parts of the country. 
The Guardias Rurales, a mounted troop of patrols, is 
now one of the finest military organizations in the 
world. It is said that General Diaz sent for the 
chiefs of brigandage, notorious leaders of pillaging 



SOCIETY. 299 

bands, and after inquiring how much they earned 
on an average by their profession, asked them if they 
had any objection to receiving that sum honestly, 
in a settled income. The result was the organiza- 
tion, out of this material, of a body of guards to 
protect the rural districts. They are stalwart men, 
with splendid leather suits and gray sombreros, all 
ornamented with silver. Their horses are beautiful 
animals, all of the same color in one band, hand- 
somely caparisoned. The men ride well, and the 
effect of this strong body, united in the defence of 
order, instead of lurking apart in defiance of it, is in 
the highest degree reassuring. The result is satis- 
factory. . Tales of highway robbery are relegated to 
the same shadowy region as the legends of Aztec 
atrocities. In the northern, desolate regions of 
Mexico, murders and robberies are still perpetrated. 
It is often the case that these are committed by 
other races than Mexicans, and very seldom, in pro- 
portion, can they be charged upon Indians. 

Elsewhere is quoted Madame Calderon's observa- 
tion of a pronunciamento. The following note has 
an importance further on in our story, of which she 
was at the time unconscious : 

" The whole world is talking of a pamphlet writ- 
ten by Senor Gutierrez Estrada, which has just ap- 
peared, and seems likely to create a greater sensa- 
tion in Mexico than the discovery of the gunpowder 
plot in England. Its sum and substance is the pro- 
posal of a constitutional monarchy in Mexico, with 
a foreign prince (not named) at its head, as the only 
remedy for the evils by which it is afflicted. The 



3po 



THE STORY OF MEXICO. 



pamphlet is written merely in a speculative form, in- 
culcating no sanguinary measures, or sudden revo- 
lution ; but the consequences are likely to be most 
disastrous to the fearless and public-spirited au- 
thor." 




XXXI. 

RUMORS OF WAR. 

We now come to the disastrous period of the war 
with the United States. Nothing more unfortunate 
could have befallen the struggling Republic of 
Mexico than to become involved in a foreign quarrel. 

For three centuries the country had been under 
the hands of the Spanish government which though 
arbitrary, oppressive, and sometimes tyrannical, was 
in general firm and equable, and above all, safe. 
Laws, such as they were, were enforced. Personal 
property, perhaps ill-gotten, was respected. In spite 
of plenty of abuses and defects, the daily life of the 
inhabitants of Anahuac under the viceroys was com- 
fortable and secure. 

Suddenly, imbued with the ideas of the centuries, 
the Mexicans began to play at independence, like 
children lighting matches. At the instigation of a 
few leaders, some of them it is true with high aims, 
actuated by the desire of doing good for their coun- 
try, they drove away their viceroys, rejected the 
strong arm of the Spanish authority, and undertook 
the difficult task of governing themselves. The 
trouble was, not one of them understood the rudi- 
ments of the art. There were plenty of applicants 

301 



302 THE STOR V OF MEXICO. 

for the highest post of ofifice. Many were tried, but 
all were found wanting. Some gave it up them- 
selves ; others returned again and again to the futile 
task of making stable the shifting sands of popular 
opinion. 

The only appeal was to arms. Blood was shed, 
powder and ball were spent, and a crop of military 
heroes sprung up, full oi ardor, ready to />ronounce 
at the slightest occasion, and bring an army to the 
field at a moment's notice. The sound of rolling 
cannon was familiar to every ear in Mexico. The 
smell of powder had nothing alarming about it. The 
very children were satiated with the sight of soldiery, 
and scarcely troubled themselves to run to the door 
to see a regiment go by. 

But this was not warfare, real and serious. These 
armies were not thoroughly trained to the discipline 
of battle, and the generals were not educated in the 
science of war. Brave they undoubtedly were, and 
familiar with scenes of danger and bloodshed ; too 
familiar, it may be, to value at its proper cost the 
waste of life and property caused by so much fight- 
ing. Exaggerated ideas of honor and glory, inherent 
to the Latin race, pervaded society, and the impres- 
sion prevailed throughout the country that the 
Mexican arms were invincible, because every regi- 
ment and every general had, in turn, put to rout 
every other in the country. 

In this game of independence, the Mexican peo- 
ples had exhausted their resources, destroyed in a 
great measure the industries of the country, spent 
their money, and wasted rivers of blood. Many 



304 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

of their best generals were either driven from the 
country, or dead upon the field. They might have 
gone on, it is true, J>ro?20unczng- and killing each other 
indefinitely, but for the sharp lesson that was taught 
them by the cruel exigencies of a foreign war. 

That some lesson should come was perhaps inev- 
itable, like a quick, sharp box on the ears, to bring 
such naughty children to their senses, and stop their 
foolish trifling with life and reputation. But it was 
hard that the blow should come from the hand of a 
nation which ought to have taken the place of an 
elder brother to these foolish and heedless children, 
— a hand which should have gently led them to 
peace and reconciliation instead of promoting dis- 
cord. 

The Mexicans, undoubtedly, helped to bring upon 
themselves the misfortunes that came swiftly upon 
them. Like all people whose own folly has put them 
on the wrong track, they were sure to do the wrong 
thing. They were heavily punished accordingly. 

The United States had in a hundred years spread 
over the great western lands of North America with 
surprising rapidity, and now approached the regions 
which Cortes had laid claim to three centuries before. 
This claim was but vague, for the deserts and plains 
of the north were not accessible or inviting ; still 
some posts were established, while the boundary 
line which should put a stop to the encroachments 
of either country was still unsettled. The terri- 
tory west of the Sabine River and east of the Rio 
Grande came under discussion. 

Moses Austin, born in Durham, Connecticut, a 



RUMORS OF WAR. 305 

southwestern pioneer, applied to the Mexican Com- 
mandant-General in Monterey in 1820 for permis- 
sion to colonize three hundred families in Texas. 
Without waiting for his answer, he set out towards 
the Sabine River, was robbed and abandoned in that 
deserted waste, and died of the disease he caught by 
exposure soon after finding his way back to Louis- 
iana. The grant was made, and given to his son, 
who had it confirmed in the city of Mexico, and it 
was he who founded the colony which has. since be- 
come the capital of Texas, named Austin after him. 
More grants of land were willingly made by the 
Mexican government, who thought well of encour- 
aging settlers as protectors against the savage^ 
hordes that infested the northern part of their 
country; and colonization went on, chiefly by peo- 
ple of the United States, until these emigrants to 
Texas far outnumbered the Mexicans. The differ- 
ence of race and education was strongly marked 
between these sturdy settlers of Anglo-Saxon origin, 
and the chance stragglers from Mexico, not the best 
specimens of the Latin race. This population had 
no sympathy with the pronunciamentos and jeal- 
ousies of the capital, and the result, as we have seen, 
was a revolt against Mexican rule in 1835, in conse- 
quence of the acts of the Federal government. 

Santa Anna hastened to the scene with his army, 
but the rebellious forces, under the brilliant command 
of " Sam " Houston, General, Governor, and after- 
ward President, were everywhere triumphant, and 
Texas declared herself an independent Republic, 
which maintained its separate existence between 



3o6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

the two great powers on each side of it till 1844, 
recognized not only by these, but by the European 
states. 

The subject of the annexation of Texas to the 
United States began to be spoken of and strongly 
urged by the Texans themselves ; but the movement 
was wholly disapproved by the party in that country 
opposed to the extension of slavery, since by the 
agreement then existing, all new territory south of a 
certain line permitted slavery, while the States north 
of it abjured it. In spite of the opposition of the 
North, however, Texas was admitted into the Ameri- 
can Union by an act ratified in Congress in March 

1845. 

This act was regarded by the Mexicans as an act 
of aggression. As Texas was at the time wholly in- 
dependent of Mexico, its right was undoubted to an- 
nex itself to another country ; but on the part of the 
United States the act is scarcely to be justified ac- 
cording to the laws of honor and international good 
faith. It was at any rate approved only by one sec- 
tion of the country, the other regarding every addi- 
tional step leading to a foreign war with a neigh- 
boring government hitherto friendly, with regret and 
displeasure. 

The party which favored the measure began to 
make preparations for hostile demonstrations with 
alacrity. The American Republic had now long 
been at peace. Prosperous, safe from enemies 
abroad, peaceful at home, with plenty of money 
in her treasury, her military schools training a small 
body of officers in the latest science of the art of war, 



RUMORS OF WAR. 30/ 

she was in perfectly good condition to resist an at- 
tack, and had the cause been a popular one, every 
State in the Union would have offered with alacrity 
volunteer troops for the field. 

The correspondence between the two countries 
grew embittered, and as time went on more and more 
unfriendly. During the negotiation of the treaty for 
annexation, war was permitted to go on in Texas ; 
the government of the United States protested. In 
the war of words which followed, the Mexicans made 
and unfortunately reiterated the declaration that 
they should consider the ratification of the treaty 
as equivalent to a declaration of war. 

During this period of agitation and irritation, the 
Mexicans went on with " Plans " and pronunciamen- 
tos. Herrera was President during 1844, during 
which short period Congress decreed the destruc- 
tion of Santa Anna. Farias returned to the Repub- 
lic from a voluntary exile abroad. General Paredes 
on his way to the north with an army to check the 
approach of United States iorcQS pronounced a revo- 
lution and " Plan " at San Luis, and returned to 
Mexico to enforce it. He was made President, and 
remained in office six months, giving way then to 
a pronunciamento against him which resulted in put- 
ting General Don Nicholas Bravo at the head of 
government. 

In all this confusion, hurrying to and fro to find a 
government, there was no true leader of affairs to 
dictate wise and moderate steps in such an emer- 
gency. Santg. Anna, the military genius of the coun- 
try, was ready to serve it in his own way, by placing 
himself at the head of an army. 



308 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Troops were not wanting, for popular indignation 
was roused, and popular vanity stimulated by the 
idea of a war with the powerful neighboring Repub- 
lic. It was pretty generally thought in the cities and 
towns that the result of the combat would be an easy 
victory. The one thing Mexicans were sure of about 
themselves was that they could fight, and the popu- 
lar impression about the United States on the other 
hand, was that they could not. They had long been 
at peace, and without practice in arms, while it was 
well known that the war was unpopular in the 
Northern States. 

The Mexicans therefore rushed to arms with their 
usual alacrity, little fearing the result. The Indians, 
all unconscious of the horrors of an invading army 
swarming over their villages and devastating the 
country, saw armies marching towards the north 
through their pueblos with indifference. Their eyes 
and ears were but too familiar with the sound of 
drum and the flying colors of the national flag. 
Their interests, their liberty, had little to do with 
the tempests that raged over them. 

The Mexican army was characterized by many of 
the necessary qualities of good soldiery. Patient 
and suffering, requiring but little subsistence, with 
great capacity for enduring fatigue, and with enough 
physical courage to enable them to encounter danger 
without fear, the Mexican soldiers when properly led 
compared well with the troops of other nations. But 
corruption existed among their officers from the high- 
est to the lowest grade ; commissions were sometimes 
given by the functionaries of government as rewards 



RUMORS OF WAR. 309 

for^ private services, discreditable to the giver and 
recipient. The army included, besides the troops of 
the line, the active battalions of the different states 
and the local national guards of the cities. 

The cavalry had a high reputation, both at home 
and abroad. Many other corps were well disciplined, 
and the men were expert in all feats of horseman- 
ship, since riding is now a universal accomplishment 
m the country where, three hundred years ago, 
the horses of the Conquistadores were regard^'ed 
as supernatural creatures. Those of Mexico are 
considered inferior in speed and power, though 
possessmg endurance in a remarkable degree. The 
carbines with which the cavalry were armed were, 
for the most part, of a model behind the times, and 
useless when accuracy of aim was necessary. 

The Mexican artillery contained many foreigners^ 
among its officers ; its juniors were the pupils of the 
Military College at Chapultepec, where they were 
well taught the theory of arms. Mexican revolutions 
had given them plenty of practice, and in gunnery 
they were exceedingly proficient. Their guns were 
fine, but clumsily mounted, and therefore hard to 
move. Light artillery, as practised by modern 
troops, was but little known or used among the 
Mexicans until it was taught them by the enemy. 

The infantry was in many respects tolerably well 
drilled, and severe discipline was enforced with the 
privates. Ceremonious etiquette and detail duties 
were punctiliously observed. The muskets of the 
infantry were inferior, and the men were by no 
means proficient in their accurate use. 



3IO THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

The organization of the staff depended much on 
the general who happened to be in command. There 
existed an enormous disproportion of generals, and 
their number was so great that it was said at the 
time they had rather a brigade of generals than 
generals of brigade. The country was full of arms 
and munitions of war, such as they were, of ancient 
manufacture ; but for replenishing the supply, Mex- 
ico had no resources, beyond the repair of partial 
damages. Such an establishment as a national 
armory was unknown in the country. 

Of maritime power Mexico was and is utterly 
destitute. A few steamers and sailing-vessels were 
on her list at the beginning of hostilities, but they 
were not put upon a war footing, and no attempt 
was made at naval warfare. 






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XXXII. 

WAR BEGUN. 

In the spring of 1846, General Taylor of the regu- 
lar army of the United States was sent to the mouth 
of the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo del Norte, as it is 
also called, with a small force. Mexican troops also 
assembled there, and a conflict was precipitated by 
■a Mexican ambuscade on the Texas side of the 
river, which attacked a small party of dragoons, 
reconnoitring. In this skirmish sixteen Americans 
were killed or wounded, and the whole force was' 
captured. This was the beginning of hostilities. 
The Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande, and on 
the 8th of May the battle of Palo Alto was fought, 
and that of Resaca de la Palma on the next day. 
Both of these places are on the Texas side of the 
river. The Mexicans were defeated in each engage- 
ment, and they left the field with a better opinion of 
the capacity of American troops than the one they 
held before. The rout of the Mexicans was com- 
plete ; their pieces of light artillery, their camp, and 
five hundred pack-mules and saddles remained in the 
hands of their enemies. General Arista, the com- 
mander of the Mexican force, lost his personal bag- 
gage, plate, and public correspondence. The number 

311 



312 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

of killed and wounded was estimated at more than a 
thousand. 

After this action, both parties crossed the river, 
and Mexico became the theatre of warfare. The 
Mexican army withdrew at first to Matamoras, at the 
mouth of the Rio Grande, and afterward to San 
Luis de Potosi ; Arista was deprived of his com- 
mand, and brought to trial before a council of war. 

This was the opening of the conflict, and this 
might well have been the end, if Mexico had been 
capable of rational negotiation. But there was no 
government long enough in place to be negotiated 
with. The special envoy sent from Washington, 
agreeably to an intimation on the part of one Presi- 
dent, that negotiations would be cordially entered 
upon, was refused an audience by the new President 
who had usurped the place of the other one. Such 
weakness in Mexican high places furnished an ex- 
cuse to the American government for continuing the 
war, while this same weakness on the part of their 
antagonist made it almost discreditable for the 
United States to continue an aggressive warfare 
upon forces so unequal. 

However, the war was begun. Hostilities had 
been opened by Mexico, and the American people 
of all parties were aroused. Bills were promptly 
passed in Washington providing men, money, and 
munitions with alacrity, as if there were but one 
opinion of the justice of the cause. The President 
was authorized to call for volunteers, in any number 
not exceeding fifty thousand, to serve for the period 
of one year, or during the war, and volunteers read- 
ily answered the appeal to arms. 



WAJi BEGUN. 313 

" Indemnity for the past and security for the 
future," is the watchword of the United States in its 
wars with foreign nations. As indemnity for the 
wrongs inflicted by Mexico, — that is, her objection 
to the admission of Texas to the Union, it was de- 
termined to cross her boundary Hne and seize upon 
her territory. 

California, then sparsely settled, and comparative- 
ly unknown, at a long distance from the central and 
civilized part of Mexico, had been explored already 
by American travellers, who brought back accounts 
of its climate, fertile soil, and mineral resources that 
showed it to be worth having. The harbors on its 
coasts were known to be the only good ones on the 
shores of the Northern Pacific Ocean. California 
lay immediately south of the United States terri- 
tory of Oregon, with no defined natural boundary 
between them. Many Americans were already set- 
tled there, and altogether it seemed well to transfer 
this goodly region to the keeping of the United 
States. New Mexico, another department of the 
Mexican Republic, lying upon the direct route to 
California, and in great part included in the boun- 
daries claimed by Texas upon her admission to the 
Union, was also another territory that claimed at- 
tention. 

It would be too much to say that the United 
States began hostilities with a neighboring republic, 
shaken by internal discord, its government little 
better than anarchy, and weak from continuous 
civil war, for the sake of snatching from that country 
a large part of its territory to enlarge its own already 



314 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

wide proportions. But since the Mexicans, foolishly 
and wickedly, had given fair pretext for quarrel, and 
afterwards, with the obstinacy of naughty children, 
refused to recede, and persisted in resorting to arms, 
actually making the first attack, it seemed well to 
the United States government to call this the inev- 
itable, and accept it with all the benefits arising from 
such a course. 

Their general plan of operations was to seize and 
occupy the coveted territories as " indemnity for the 
expenses of war," while an army invading the heart 
of Mexico should force an agreement to terms of 
peace. 

In pursuance of this plan, an American squadron 
appeared before the fort of Monterey, on the Pacific, 
in Alta California, on the 7th of July, two months 
after the first shots of warfare on the Rio Grande. 
This Monterey must not be confounded with the 
other Mexican town of the same name. The Mexi- 
cans evacuated the place with the few soldiers who 
constituted the garrison. On the same day two 
hundred and fifty seamen landed, and took posses- 
sion, and hoisted the American flag. This course 
was in pursuance of instructions from the Secretary 
of the Navy to the commander of the Pacific 
squadron, thus expressed in a letter, written as early 
as June 24, 1845 • " ^^ is the earnest desire of the 
President to pursue the policy of peace, and he is 
anxious that you, and every part of your squadron, 
should be assiduously careful to avoid any act which 
could be construed into an act of aggression. Should 
Mexico, however, be resolutely bent on hostilities. 



3l6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

you will be mindful to protect the persons and inter- 
ests of citizens of the United States, and should you 
ascertain beyond a doubt that the Mexican govern- 
ment has declared war against us, you will employ 
the force under your command to the best advan- 
tage. The Mexican ports on the Pacific are said 
to be open and defenceless. If you ascertain with 
certainty that Mexico has declared war against the 
United States, you will at once blockade or occupy 
such ports as your force may admit." 

Other ports were taken with equal ease ; and the 
navy having joined forces with the army of Colonel 
Fremont, the Americans entered the capital of Alta 
California, on the 13th of August, and took posses- 
sion of the government house without a show of op- 
position, issuing at once a proclamation announcing 
the conquest of the department. 

Meanwhile General Taylor, greatly reinforced by 
volunteer troops sent from the United States, ad- 
vanced into the interior of the country though the 
state of Nueva Leon, bordering upon the Rio 
Grande and the Gulf of Mexico, and approached its 
capital, the other Mo-nterey. It lies at the eastern 
base of a range of hills, in a valley of great fertility, 
which is capable of supporting a large population. 
The main road from the Rio Grande to the city of 
Mexico leads from the east through a cultivated 
country, directly through the city, and continues by 
a pass through the Sierra, by Saltillo, and on to a 
desert region between Saltillo and San Luis de 
Potosi. A rivulet, the San Juan de Monterey, rises 
in this pass and crosses the valley. Monterey stands 




GENERAL TAYLOR, 



317 



3l8 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

on the northern bank of this rivulet, and extends 
along the stream. At the time of the battle it con- 
tained about two thousand inhabitants. A spur of 
the mountain Sierra juts out above the city to the 
west, and on this is perched the picturesque Obis- 
pado Viejo, or Old Palace, built by a bishop of the 
last century for his pleasure-seat. 

General Ampudia had the charge of the defence 
of the place, with over ten thousand men. The 
town was plentifully supplied with ammunition, and 
in the various batteries forty-two guns were mounted. 
Subsistence for some days, beef, cattle, and sheep, 
had been introduced into the city.- The attacking 
force was known to be too small to completely invest 
the town. 

The American army made a vigorous onslaught 
which was bravely resisted by the Mexicans, The 
siege lasted for four days, during which the position 
of the bishop's palace was keenly contested by both 
parties.. This was stormed on the morning of the 
22d, and carried by a brilliant attack; but the fate 
of the siege was not decided until the 25th, when 
the Mexican garrison evacuated the citadel, and 
retreated to Saltillo. 

The force with which General Taylor had marched 
on Monterey was about six thousand five hundred 
men. The loss to the American army was twelve 
ofiEicers and one hundred and eight men killed, and 
thirty-one officers and three hundred and thirty- 
seven men wounded. The number of Mexicans who 
fell was probably over one thousand. 

Both sides fought with great bravery, and the 



PFJ/e BEGUN. 319 

Mexicans contested the occupation of their town 
with determination, during the long and unceasing 
conflict. The result was terribly discouraging to the 
soldiers of the Mexican army, who were discovering, 
with every new essay, that the United States 
soldiers could fight. 

General Ampudia, after the defeat, issued a procla- 
mation announcing it frankly, with humble apologies 
for his capacity. He gave a short account of the 
operations, highly extolling the valor of his troops, 
and attributing the defeat to a series of accidents, 
concluding with the assurance to his countrymen 
that the loss of Monterey was of little importance, 
and would soon be forgotten in fresh triumphs of the 
Mexican arms. 

He soon received orders to march his troops to 
San Luis de Potosi, on the backward way towards 
the capital. 

The operations at Monterey, in spite of the opin- 
ion of the Mexican general, had nevertheless a great 
effect on the progress of the war. It must have been 
discouraging to the Mexican people ; on the other 
hand, it made the war more popular in the United 
States, where the bravery of the troops was a subject 
of national congratulation. 

The officers in the army of General Taylor became 
heroes, and their military glory was everywhere 
sounded. 

During these events Don Maria Paredes was 
President of Mexico. His " Plan " for his country 
was a monarchy, and apparently heedless, or at any 
rate indifferent, to the approach of hostile troops 



320 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

toward his capital, he occupied himself with forming 
a ministry favorable to his scheme, with the intent 
of making sooner or later a radical change in the 
political institutions of the country. 

Such intentions had aroused a violent opposition 
to his administration. Santa Anna, apparently 
amusing himself at Havana, but always well in- 
formed by his partisans of what was going on at 
home, sent home letters declaring himself in favor of 
the Constitution of 1824, and ready, as usual, to serve 
his country. The American government, hearing of 
this, thought it well to encourage Santa Anna, in 
opposition to Paredes, for they looked with no favor 
on the idea of a monarchy in Mexico, and moreover 
saw that all negotiations for peace were futile dur- 
ing the stay of Paredes in power. The Gulf of 
Mexico was already blockaded by an American 
squadron, but orders were issued to permit Santa 
Anna to come in, if he wanted to. This order was 
given before the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de 
la Palma, and must be taken as a sign of willingness 
on the part of the United States for a pacific accom- 
rnodation. 

But Santa Anna's gifts were those of a military 
nature, not for peaceful solutions. If he was to 
serve his country, it must be by waving the battle 
flag and not the olive branch. 

The defeats of the army reminded Paredes of the 
need of regaining his prestige. He began to put 
forth some energy in raising men and money, and 
gave out that he should repair to the field of action 
himself to conduct operations against the invaders 



JVAJ? BEGUN. 321 

in person. Raising money with great difficulty, and 
assembling a large army, he made ready to leave the 
capital on the 31st of July. On that day the garri- 
son of Vera Cruz pronounced in favor of Santa 
Anna, the whole garrison of the city of Mexico 
joined in the pronunciamento and seized upon the 
citadel. Farias, whom we have known as a patriotic 
man, lent all his influence to support this rebellion. 
The Vice-President, Bravo, and the old ministry, 
made some opposition on paper, but it was fruitless, 
and Paredes was made prisoner. He was soon lib- 
erated and left the country. 

Jack-in-the-box Santa Anna was still at Havana, 
whence he popped up at once and sailed for Mexico 
with his suite. He landed at Vera Cruz on the i6th 
of August, having passed the blockading squadron 
without question or delay. Of course he issued a 
manifesto denouncing the monarchical schemes of 
Paredes and the course of the United States, and 
explaining the merit of his own conduct. He then 
retired to his box to await the course of events, 
while he sent interested allies to the capital for the 
purpose of controlling them. State after state de-j 
clared in favor of Santa Anna. 

Every nerve was now strained to raise money and 
troops for the war. Santa Anna approached the 
capital, and was met by offers of the supreme power 
from the provisional government. They were de- 
clined on the ground that Santa Anna willed to 
serve his country in the army. He declared that 
he would not abandon the post of danger for the 
post of power, and closed his answer with assurances 



322 



THE STORY OF MEXICO. 



of his disinterested patriotism. This paved the way 
for his reception at the capital. He was received 
with a show of enthusiasm worthy of the regenera- 
tion of his country. 

This parade of military ardor took place on the 
15th of September, while General Ampudia was 
strengthening Monterey for the attack. A week 
later it had come, and on the 25th the city had 
capitulated. 

On the 8th of October General Santa Anna ar- 
rived at San Luis de Potosi with the troops which 
had marched from Mexico. He at once set about 
organizing the large army called into the field, 
pledging a part of his private property as one 
means of raising money, which was sorely needed 
and hard to eet. 




XXXIII. 

PUEBLA LOST. 

On the 1 8th of February, 1847, General Win- 
field Scott presented himself before Vera Cruz 
with a formidable army of American troops. On 
the 22d Santa Anna lost the battle of Angostura, or 
Buena Vista as it is better known by Americans^ and 
was forced to retire with his troops upon San Luis. 
On the 28th the American forces in the north met 
the Mexicans at Sacramento and beat them, soon 
after occupying the important town of Chihu'ahua, 
These events following close upon one another 
filled the Mexicans with alarm, but their determina- 
tion held out, and all the opportunities for peace 
offered them by the American government were 
waived as an indignity to their national honor. 

To raise money was the great difficulty. Calls 
were made upon the separate states and upon indi- 
viduals. The government journals adopted the 
motto Ser o no ser (" to be or not to be," literally 
rendered), and were filled with articles urging the 
hearty support of the war. One plan for raising 
money was the sequestration of Church property. 

As the various religious orders came over to New 
Spain from the old country they built churches, 

323 



324 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

monasteries, convents, and hospitals ; in the early 
period after the Conquest their work and influence, 
as we have seen, were most favorable to the establish- 
ment of the colony. To the Franciscans, in great 
part, belongs the honor of establishing the power of 
Spain on a firm basis in the new country. Their 
wise course with the Indians, establishing a cordial 
and even affectionate intercourse with them, en- 
grafting gently the tenets of the new religion upon 
whatever was good and healthy of the old stock, 
gave them a strong hold upon their converts, and 
thus confirmed by love and reason the position won 
in the first place by arms and superior force. The 
several orders of Hospitallers established all over the 
country houses of shelter for the sick, admirably ap- 
pointed and administered conscientiously with the 
greatest zeal. 

The Jesuits encouraged learning in Mexico, 
founded colleges and schools, and inspired even 
the lowest class with the possibility of raising them- 
selves by developing their mental faculties. The 
Dominicans, by their furious zeal for the Inquisition, 
doubtless hastened the end of the Spanish rule, for 
the soil of the New World has never been favorable 
for the taking root of this institution. 

" Broadly speaking," Mr. Janvier says, in his ad- 
mirable "Mexican Guide," "the influence of the re- 
ligious orders upon the colony was beneficial during 
its first century, neutral during its second, harmful 
during its third." It must always be remembered 
that Cortes, with all his personal ambition and greed 
of gold, was deeply religious, and that he never lost 










GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, 



325 



326 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

sight of his highest aim in conquering New Spain, 
which was in all sincerity to plant the cross upon its 
soil. The impulse given by his determination lasted 
a long time, but in another century this had lost its 
force, while with the decline of the power of the 
Church at home, the ambassadors from Spain had 
less religious fervor. In the last century all institu- 
tions of the Church had deteriorated to a degree 
fatal to her interests, as well as to those of the 
country. 

By this time so much of the wealth of Mexico had 
come into the possession of the Church that this 
locking up of capital really blocked the channels of 
trade. Money accepted, or extorted, by the priests 
stopped circulating, and was lost in the coffers of 
churches, or converted into superb ornaments for 
altars. The practical thought of the time, in the 
stress for money required to pursue the war, turned 
to the scheme of converting all this splendor into 
funds for the equipment of armies. 

The clergy became alarmed at the first sound of 
such proposals, and used all their powerful influence 
against them. For this course they were accused by 
the government journals of want of patriotism, of 
aiding and abetting the monarchists, and fomenting 
the discords which were daily becoming more 
dangerous. 

This was not without reason, for although the 
priests feared and hated the " Northern heretics," 
as they called the enemy, they feared and hated 
still more the loss of their property. The monarchi- 
cal preferences of the great dignitaries of the Church 



PUEBLA LOST. 



327 



are well known. They have never favored the inno- 
vation of the Republic in Mexico. 

In spite of the strong opposition of the priests, an 
attempt was made to carry "the plan into effect. 
Government required a contribution from the prop- 
erty of the clergy to the amount of two millions of 
dollars, and issued drafts amounting to that sum on 
the different bishops of the country. These prel- 
ates really were not able to pay immediately in 
ready money, even if they had inclination ; they 
begged for delay, and meantime incited the clergy 
to defeat further measures in Congress. Neverthe- 
less a bill was passed in January, 1847, "to hypothe- 
cate or sell in mortmain Church property " in 
amounts necessary to obtain fifteen millions for the 
support of the national war against the United 
States. Government, determined to carry the matter 
through, took the first step by seizing a priest who 
was stirring up an insurrection in the capital, and 
casting him into prison. Such acts stifled the gen- 
eral outcry, and the clergy were compelled to work 
in secret. But the property consisted almost en- 
tirely of real estate, and, even when seized or mort- 
gaged, it was difficult to raise money on it, for the 
clergy made it unsafe for individuals to encourage 
the government by purchase. No great quantity of 
money was raised at that time, and Congress was 
induced to consider ways of making the law less ob- 
noxious. In the middle of their conference they 
broke up, and left government to obtain resources 
as it might. 

Thus the first great blow was struck at the accu- 



328 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

mulation of Church wealth ; the wedge admitted 
which must weaken the structure in time. 

On the 22d of March General Scott, having landed 
his troops,- began to bombard the city of Vera Cruz. 
At the time of the attack the city was but scantily 
supplied with subsistence. The governor of the 
state had endeavored to provide it with provisions, 
in the little time he had after the appearance of 
American vessels in the harbor, but amid the clamor 
at the capital his small voice was unheeded. Gen- 
eral Morales, the Commandant, with good courage 
resolved to keep up the defence as long as possible, 
trusting for aid to the coming of the vomito, which 
early every spring makes Vera Cruz unhealthy, rather 
than to any hope of a relieving army. 

On the day General Scott summoned the city to 
surrender, General Morales returned a peremptory 
refusal, saying that he would make good his defence 
to the last, informing his Excellency that he could 
commence operations in the manner which he might 
consider most advantageous. Soon after, the bom- 
bardment began. For four days a shower of shells 
poured upon the city, and the violence instead of 
diminishing daily increased. The inhabitants for 
protection crowded upon the mole, and into the 
northern part of the town. For twelve days the 
place was closely invested. Many poor people who, 
without the necessaries of life, were prowling about 
the streets in search of food, fell before the American 
fire, as well as women and children, who were not 
safe even in their houses. On the 28th the city sur- 
rendered. The Mexican troops were permitted to 







a> 



330 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

march out of the city with the honors of war, to the 
field where the surrender of arms was to take place, 
and to salute their flag when it was struck. The 
civil and religious rights of Vera Cruz were guaran- 
teed to its inhabitants. The troops laid down their 
arms, and General Worth's command entered and 
took possession of the city and the neighboring 
Castle of San Juan d' Uloa. 

By this capture, General Scott obtained a base of 
operations for direct advance upon the city of 
Mexico, and, moreover, inflicted another blow upon 
the courage of the Mexican nation. 

Santa Anna, who, by the way, had been made 
President, leaving political affairs in the hands of 
Governor Farias, Vice-President, hastened from the 
defeat at Buena Vista to the encounter of another 
American army, met General Scott between Jalapa 
and Vera Cruz, and sustained a new defeat at Cerro 
Gordo. He himself escaped and fled to Orizaba, 
where he made strenuous efforts to assemble anew an 
army, for his troops were utterly disp'ersed, and not 
a barrier remained between the enemy and the capi- 
tal. The Americans, in fact, slowly advanced, occu- 
pying the country as they went towards the capital. 
Santa Anna arrived first at Puebla with all the force 
which he had collected at Orizaba. He found the 
Poblanos indifferent, and tried to rouse their patriot- 
ism, telling them, with good reason, that he knew 
they could fight if they chose, for not three years 
before they had beaten him, Santa Anna, off the town 
although he was backed by an army of 12,000 men. 
Notwithstanding his eloquence, the American army 



PUEBLA LOST. 33 1 

marched into Puebla without any fighting at all. The 
Ayuntamiento of the city met General Worth out- 
side the city, and favorable terms were agreed upon. 

The American troops arriving in Puebla were 
quartered at first in the Plaza Mayor, where they 
stacked their arms, and laid themselves down to 
rest. They had passed the night in the open air in a 
pouring rain, and were tired and dirty with a long 
march all the morning. The Poblanos could not 
understand that these ill-conditioned soldiers were 
the terrible conquerors who were invading their 
homes. Some one expressed the belief that five 
hundred good men could cut them down, as they 
lay at their ease in the Plaza, but the attempt was 
not made. 

Puebla was thus quietly occupied, but the inhabi- 
tants showed no good-will to the invaders. 

Fort Loreto, on the hill of Guadalupe, was occu- 
pied by a part of the American command. This hill 
is famous in the annals of Mexican history. In the 
old times when it was crowned by the Church of 
Guadalupe, religious processions used to go up and 
down on the days of sacred ceremony. The fort was 
destined to a glorious triumph later, but at the time 
of the American investment it had not yet won its 
reputation. Then, as now, from the heights was to 
be seen one of the great views of the world : three 
snow-covered volcanoes, with Malintzi rising 13,000 
feet above the level of the sea, and the lofty crest 
of Orizaba, and nearer at hand the pyramid of 
Cholula. The city of Puebla spreads out below 
like a map. It is very pretty, built like all the 
Mexican cities, with streets running at accurate 



332 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

right angles, straight and regular. Many churches 
are scattered over the city ; the frequent use of 
colored tiles in building furnishes a great many 
colors, for red, yellow, and blue are employed in 
the domes, which glow with bright tints or glitter 
in the reflection of the sun. 

The American troops had full opportunity to en- 
joy this scene while they occupied Puebla, awaiting 
at first the arrival of General Scott, and afterwards 
reinforcements sufficient to warrant an advance. 
Santa Anna returned to Mexico, where, as usual 
with beaten generals, his reception was the reverse 
of cordial. He took what measures he could to win 
back popularity, and as one step towards this, 
resigned the presidency. Pending a new election, 
Congress created him Dictator until the next year, 
and armed with this authority he began the work of 
fortifying the capital, since this was evidently the 
next and last point of attack for the enemy, Gen- 
eral Taylor's army finding no hindrance in coming 
from the north, and General Scott close at hand in 
the City of the Angels. 

Patriotism, the desire to defend the capital, was 
fully aroused, and battalions poured in from the dif- 
ferent cities and states of the Republic ; each sent 
its guns to contribute to the defence, and by the end 
of June the Mexican Dictator had at his disposal 
over 25,000 men and sixty pieces of artillery. Pro- 
nunciamentos ceased for the time, and the spirits of 
the Mexicans again rose, leading them to hope that 
the final struggle would be successful, and that the 
troops of the United States would meet with an 
overwhelming defeat at the gates of their capital. 




XXXIV. 



CHAPULTEPEC TAKEN. 



Early in August the American army left Puebia 
and took up its quarters outside the capital, having 
approached by a route south of Lake Chalco. 

Santa Anna, having learned these movements, 
began fortifications at the Bridge and Church of 
Churubusco, four miles south of the city. There is 
no town here, only a few little scattered houses ; in 
the time of the Aztecs, however, it was an important 
place, which clustered round the temple of their old 
god of war, Huitzilopochtli, of which the modern 
name is a derivation, having come a long way from 
its root. " The place," says an old chronicler, " was 
the dwelling and diabolical habitation of infernal 
spirits " until the priests of the Church cast them 
out. When the artillery of the American army 
rattled about their ears, the poor inhabitants may 
have fancied there had entered in devils worse than 
the first. 

The Mexican general ordered a barricade to be 
erected in the road over which the American army 
must pass. This was done, but when Worth arrived 
he set the same Indians who had thrown up the 
barricade to level it again. These docile natives saw 

333 



334 THE STORY OF MEXICO, 

but little difference between one army and another, 
and they set to work with the same patient alacrity 
they had used to build the barricade, on the business 
of tearing it down again. 

On the 1 8th the battle of Churubusco was fought, 
the Mexicans defending with great bravery a con- 
vent to which they had retreated. In this battle, 
lost by the Mexicans, many of their distinguished 
men perished. Gorostiza, a poet and dramatist, 
some of whose plays still hold the stage, lost his life 
valiantly commanding his battalion, although he 
was old and infirm. 

It was all in vain. The Americans gained the 
convent and the town, in spite of the valor of the 
defenders and the bravery of General Anaya, who 
was in command. The Mexicans left alive were 
taken prisoners, and the Americans triumphed. The 
I day of Churubusco is regarded by the Mexicans as a 
/ glorious one, in spite of their defeat. A monument 
stands in the Plaza in memory of the heroes who 
died there defending their country. 

Closer and closer drew the lines of the hostile 
force. There was an armistice after the battle of 
Churubusco; fighting began again at Molino del 
Rey, a range of stone buildings under the fire of the 
heavy guns of the Castle of Chapultepec. General 
Scott was informed that a foundry was in operation 
at that place, and that bells from the steeples of the 
city had lately been dismounted, probably to be re- 
cast there for cannon. This turned his attention to 
the place. It was attacked on the night of Septem- 
ber 8th, and taken the next day after furious resist- 



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336 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ance. Inside the Molino were some few old cannon 
moulds, but no evidence of recent founding. The 
Americans were now close under the fortifications 
of Chapultepec, whose guns had played incessantly 
upon them from daylight throughout the action. 

This also is regarded by the Mexicans as a brilliant 
action, as it undoubtedly was on their part, as well 
as that of the daring invaders. During the battle, 
the bells of the city were ringing a continuous joyful 
peal, as if to assert a victory beforehand. The city 
was wholly confident in the impregnability of its 
stronghold, the Castle of Chapultepec. 

Yet on the 13th this difficult fortress was attacked 
by General Pillow, scaled and taken by the Ameri- 
can troops. General Bravo was in command of the 
castle, while Santa Anna was occupied with other 
exposed places. Under him were eight hundred 
men, among them the pupils of the Military College 
established there. The General was taken prisoner ; 
many of the brave young fellows, before they had 
gone beyond the first lessons of military science, 
were taught its last and most bitter one, — death, in 
the defence of their citadel. The American soldiers 
rushed in at the many different doors of the college ; 
it is said that they showed unusual ferocity, made 
savages by the custom of slaughter among the Mex- 
icans in former engagements. Quarter was rarely 
given, a practice learned of the Spaniards themselves ; 
for a few moments the struggle was fearful, and the 
bloodshed unrestrained. Parties of American offi- 
cers found their way to the Azotea, and tore down 
the Mexican colors, while the standards of two 



338 THE STOA'Y OF AT EX ICO. 

United States regiments were displayed. The 
shouts of the victors announced to the city that her 
stronghold had fallen. 

The taking of Chapultepec was practically the end 
of the war. The city of Mexico was shortly after 
occupied, and although the negotiations for peace 
were long and tiresome, the end was obvious. 

On the 2d of February, 1848, a treaty was 
confirmed, called that of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, from 
the name of the little suburb city where it was 
signed. Mexico received fifteen millions of dollars, 
by way of indemnity ; but lost the territory of Alta 
California, New Mexico, Texas, and a part of her 
state of Coahuila, by the agreement to consider the 
windings of the Rio Bravo del Norte, or Rio Grande, 
as the boundary between the two nations, as far as it 
goes ; that is, to a direct line parallel with San Diego 
on the coast of California. 

No sooner had California fallen into the hands of 
the Americans, than it turned out to be full of gold. 
In that very year, 1848, began the gold fever of Cali- 
fornia, and emigration poured in from all parts of the 
States, so that rapidly the territory, unknown and 
neglected by the Mexicans, grew to be a most im- 
portant State. San Francisco, then a little straggling 
Mexican port, is now a large and flourishing city. 

This is a result of the war which must be viewed 
with impatience, to say the least, by the Mexicans, 
who saw themselves, at the time, forced to relinquish 
this large amount of territory without the power of 
refusal. On the other hand, there is room for think- 
ing that California, left in the hands of that people. 



Chapultepec taken. ' 339 

might have remained to this day undiscovered, with 
its wealth still hidden in the earth. Whatever com- 
fort this may be, is open to the losing side. 

The war left them disgraced and humiliated, with 
ruined cities and desolated homes scattered over 
the land. It is probable, however, that the perma- 
nent effect of the war was beneficial. It taught the 
Mexicans, for one thing, to distrust the prestige of 
their army, and hambled the pretensions of a crowd 
of military men, who, while they aspired to the 
highest offices of government, proved themselves not 
only incapable of serving their country thus, but in- 
competent in the field. High praise, however, is 
always to be assigned to the courage and bravery of 
the army, its commanders, and private soldiers, es- 
pecially in the defence of their capital when the 
struggle reached its last agony. 

The United States by the war acquired an im- 
mense extent of territory, by many of its citizens, 
however, even at the time, regarded as a questionable 
good. The acquisition of so much slave territory 
without doubt hastened the crisis which called for 
the civil war of 1861. The experiences of the Amer- 
ican army in the Mexican war, and the glory, exag- 
gerated perhaps, which attached to their feats of 
arms, stimulated the taste for military pursuits, be- 
fore very moderate in a peaceful and industrious 
land. The heroes of the campaign of Anahuac were 
transferred to the field of politics. General Taylor 
became President of the United States, and General 
Scott narrowly escaped it. The defects of the army 
were recognized and in great measure remedied, so 



340 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

that M'hen the civil war did come, both armies, on 
the two contending sides of that unfortunate con- 
flict, were in a state of readiness much in advance of 
the condition of the national troops before the cam- 
paign in Mexico, while a crop of officers, heroes of 
the so-called glorious" victories of Palo Alto, Buena 
Vista, and the rest, responded to the call of loyalty, 
or rebellion, with the alacrity of experience. 

After the evacuation of Mexico an attempt was 
made by the Americans to capture Santa Anna. 
General Lane, who with a small force was engaged 
in driving guerrillas from the roads, received infor- 
mation that this general was at Tehuacan, not very 
far from Puebla. After marching all night in that 
direction, he occupied two large haciendas in that 
neighborhood, where his men and horses were con- 
cealed during daylight, and the Mexican residents 
held close prisoners. When evening arrived the 
command marched on towards Tehuacan. About 
five miles out they met a carriage with an escort of 
ten or twelve armed men. They were stopped, but 
the occupant of the carriage produced a written safe- 
guard over the signature of an American general, and 
upon this the whole party was allowed to proceed. 
General Lane arrived at Tehuacan just at daylight, 
and entered it at once. But the bird had flown. 
Santa Anna had been there ; but, warned by a 
breathless messenger on horseback, who rode back 
from the carriage the soldiers had met, to give him 
news of the approach of the soldiers, had just time 
enough to make his escape, with his family, leaving 
all his effects, which were quickly plundered by the 
troops of Lane's command. 



CHAPULTEPEC TAKEN. 34 1 

On Friday ist, before the treaty of Guadalupe- 
Hidalgo, Santa Anna informed the Minister of 
War and the American Commander-in-Chief that he 
desired to leave Mexico and seek an asylum on a 
foreign soil, where he " might pass his last days in 
that tranquillity which he could never find in the land 
of his birth." This permission was granted, and he 
went to Jamaica, leaving his country at peace, but 
not forever. 

Ulysses S. Grant, then a young soldier in the 
army of the United States, took part in the Mexican 
war. He went into the battle of Palo Alto as 
second lieutenant, at the age of twenty-six, and 
entered the city of Mexico sixteen months later 
with the conquering army-. 

In his personal memoirs General Grant expresses 
his opinion that the Mexican war was one of the 
most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a 
weaker nation. " It was an instance," he says, "of 
a republic following the bad example of European 
monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire 
to acquire additional territory." 





XXXV. 



BENITO JUAREZ. 



Peace was restored, and with it revived commerce 
and industry ; the coffers of government were full, 
thanks to the fifteen millions of pesos received from 
the United States to heal the wounds of war. 

General Herrera took possession of the presiden- 
tial chair, and Mexico, after twenty years of warfare, 
civil and foreign, took a respite of as many months. 

Herrera became President on the 3d of June, 1848, 
and fulfilled the appointed time of ofifice until Jan- 
uary, 1851, when he handed over the control to his 
successor, when for the first time in the history of 
the Republic this change was effected without 
violence. 

His administration was economical and moral, and 
so was that of his successor. General Arista, who 
continued the reform of the army, bringing order 
into the financial condition of the country. These 
two terms may be regarded as models of good gov- 
ernment. 

Before the close of Arista's term the Mexicans 
took up their old practice oi pronouncing, and rather 
than create a disturbance, the President, finding 
himself unpopular, secretly retired from the capital. 

342 




BEiNITO JUAREZ. 
343 



344 '^'^^^ STOKY OF MEXICO. 

Resolutions began, and Santa Anna, hearing their 
echo afar, returned to the country once more, to be 
made Dictator. 

But Mexico was not to fall back into the hopeless 
anarchy of the period before the American war. The 
better class had learned to desire peace, and there 
were leaders among them strong enough to restrain 
the mobile desires of the multitude, and lead them 
to better things. The epoch of the reform began ; 
and although this reform was signalized by blood- 
shed, it was a war for definite objects and princi- 
ples, and not a squabble, setting up and putting 
down incompetent presidents, which used to prevail. 

The great struggle arose over the question of the 
sequestration of Church property, begun during the 
United States w^ar, but then, as we have seen, 
treated injudiciously, hastily dealt with, with but 
temporary and inefificient results. Later the dis- 
agreement between the clerigos, or Church party, 
and the liberates, or those demanding the surrender 
of the property of the Church, became wider and 
wider, until two great parties divided the country. 
For half a century these parties have disputed the 
power under their two political standards. It must 
not be inferred that the party opposed to the 
clerigos has been opposed to religion. The liberals 
have been as good Christians, and not only this, as 
devout Catholics, as the so-called Church party. The 
question has not turned upon matters of doctrine, 
but upon those pertaining to the goods of the Church. 

Benito Juarez was of pure Aztec birth. It has 
even been said that the blood of the Montezumas 



BENITO JUAREZ. 345 

was in his veins. Be that as it may, his family was 
of the lowest order of the Indians, living in a vil- 
lage of the state of Oaxaca. They were poor, and 
it is said that at twelve Benito knew neither how to 
read nor write. 

He found a protector in Don Antonio Salanueva, 
head of a rich family of Oaxaca, who became inter- 
ested in him, and kindly helped him to an education. 
In him, as in many other cases less known, the fa- 
cility of the Indian intelligence to acquire knowledge 
was shown. He learned rapidly to read and write, 
and advanced so far as to study law, in which he 
afterwards distinguished himself, elected first a mem- 
ber of the legislature of Oaxaca, and afterwards 
climbing all the steps to legal fame until he became 
the presiding judge of the courts there. 

During the war with the United States, Juarez wa? 
at the capital, as deputy to Congress. He took a 
vigorous part in the demand for the loan upon 
Church property to supply money for the war, and 
thus ranged himself with the opponents to the 
Church party, although himself preserving the de- 
vout faith of the Catholic religion, which the In- 
dians almost invariably cling to. 

He was made Governor of Oaxaca, and devoted 
himself to establishing schools for the Indians, to 
benefit his race, while he managed affairs wisely and 
economically for all. 

During Santa Anna's dictatorship, he was banished 
from the country, and stayed in New Orleans until 
the turn of the wheel brought his way of thinking 
to the top, when among other of^ces he resumed 



346 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

that of Governor of Oaxaca. He became afterwards 
Secretary of State, and President of the Supreme 
Court of Justice. 

On the 17th of February, 1857, a new Constitution 
was promulgated by the enhghtened Congress. It 
declared that national sovereignty resides essentially 
in the people, and adopted the republican form of 
government, representative, democratic, and federal. 
It proclaimed each state free and sovereign within 
its limits, and introduced many reforms and im- 
provements in the old code. It was received with 
great applause by the liberal party, but with little 
disguised disapproval by the army and clergy, who 
set themselves from its birth to combating its suc- 
cess. Great disturbance arose, excommunication of 
the liberals, promulgations, pronunciamentos, arrests, 
uprisings. From the midst of all the confusion 
Juarez took possession of the presidency by right of 
his position as head of the Supreme Court, since 
Comonfort, the legitimate President, \\zd pronounced, 
been condemned, and forced to leave the country. 
Juarez and his party held their own through much 
adverse circumstance. On his side were ranged, in 
the defence of the Constitution of 1857, Doblado, 
Ortega, Zaragoza, Guillermo, Prieto, and other im- 
portant men ; on the side of the clerigos were the 
Generals Miramon and Marquez, and the greater 
part of the chiefs of the regular army. Civil war 
waged over the land ; there is reason to believe that 
moderate principles and the Constitution of 1857 
would have triumphed, had it not been for the 
strange and certainly unexpected events of the for- 



BENITO JUAREZ. 347 

eign intervention, which occasioned an episode in 
Mexican affairs as cruel and unnecessary as it was 
dramatic. So foreign indeed was it to the national 
Hfe of the Mexican people, that it in reality scarcely 
formed a part of their history. The Indian in his 
hut of adobe saw the princely pageant pass, he 
scarce knew why. 




XXXVI. 



F"RENCH INTERVENTION. 



In i86i, four years after the declaration of the 
Constitution of 1857, o'l ^^ic 8th of December, 
there appeared in the waters of Vera Cruz a for- 
eign squadron, over which floated the colors of three 
European powers. It was a combined expedition 
from the governments of Spain, England, and 
France. The commissioners from these three pow- 
ers were accompanied by a body of Spanish troops, 
a smaller force of French ones, and some English 
sailors. Why were they there ? Did they come to 
demand something? Had they an ultimatum to 
present ? 

The three powers had signed a treaty in London 
by which they agreed to send this threefold expedi- 
tion to Mexico to demand guaranties for the safety 
of their subjects living there, and further to urge 
their claim to sums borrowed by the Mexicans 
during their difificulties, on which a law^ had been 
lately passed suspending payment. This was the 
pretext for the expedition ; its real cause was below 
the surface. 

The commissioners took possession easily of Vera 
Cruz, and then proceeded to Orizaba, where a confer- 

348 



FRENCH INTERVENTION. 349 

ence was opened with Juarez. The demand for pay- 
ment was readily acknowledged, and the commis- 
sioners for Spain and England at once withdrew 
their troops. But the French remained. The proc- 
lamation issued by the commissioners, declaring 
their presence in Mexico was for no other purpose 
than that of settling vexed questions, had served as 
a reason for introducing their troops. The expe- 
dition was undertaken in good faith by the English 
and Spanish governments, but when their commis- 
sioners found that a deeper question was involved, 
they extricated themselves and their governments 
from the affair and went away. 

A plan had been formed in the court of the Tuil- 
eries, by Napoleon III., encouraged and even insti- 
gated by Mexican refugees who had sought the 
court of France, disgusted with the liberal turn of 
affairs in their own country. Among these were 
Gutierrez de Estrada, the ex-President Miramon, and 
others of the clergy party, who were opposed entirely 
\o the supremacy of Juarez, and wanted above all 
things to bring back a monarchy to Mexico. At the 
same time the Archbishop of Mexico, robbed as he 
said of the property of his Church, warmly advocated 
the same cause at Rome. 

The plan was to select a prince of some European 
house, and place him upon the throne left vacant 
since the abdication of Agustin I. in the capital of 
the Aztec Emperors. Estrada, indeed, was living in 
exile, on account of his pamphlet proposing this 
scheme. Napoleon III. accepted these overtures with 
alacrity, and at once furnished troops, money, and 



350 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

influence to the alluring idea of " opposing the Latin 
race to the invasion of Anglo-Saxons " in the New 
World — that is, to check the supremacy of the United 
States upon the western continent, and establish an 
Empire in Mexico, which, nominally independent, 
would be under his own control, and thus add to 
the glory of the French nation. 

The time was opportune, for the United States 
were then engrossed in a civil war, which absorbed 
all their resources. The government at Washington 
could not give its attention to affairs in Mexico, 
and Napoleon hoped, in the not improbable event of 
the success of the Southern States, that there would 
be no danger of interference from that quarter. 

The demands of the commissioners, therefore, 
were but an excuse for entering the country. Rely- 
. ing on the representatives of the Mexican emigre's, 
which promised cordial support from the clerical 
party at home, the French advanced towards the 
capital of Mexico. 

Meanwhile, the future Emperor had been found. 
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, Archduke of Austria, 
of the house of Hapsburg Lorraine, accepted the 
proposition secretly made him by Napoleon, to be- 
come Emperor of Mexico. 

He was brother of the reigning Emperor of Aus- 
tria, and they were descended from the royal house 
of Charles V. of Germany and L of Spain. Maxi- 
milian was born in 1832 ; in 1857 he had married the 
daughter of the King of Belgium, Carlotta Maria 
Amalia. These two young persons, for the prince 
was but little over thirty, were at Miramar, their 



-1 




351 



ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN. 



352 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

palace near Trieste, where they received the over- 
tures of the Mexican conspirators. For many months 
the Archduke hesitated over so startHng a proposal ; 
finally he decided to accept the crown which was of- 
fered him, but " on the condition that France and 
England should sustain him with their guaranty, 
moral and material, both on land and sea." England, 
as we have seen, early withdrew from the alliance, 
with a loyalty to honorable principles greatly to its 
credit, well aware that the United States would look 
upon the scheme with no favor, and less confident 
than the French Emperor in the success of the 
Southern Confederacy. 

Maximilian was a dreamer. The scion of the 
stock of kings, he believed firmly in the " right 
divine," which he persuaded himself to fancy, by 
tortuous ways might now be hovering over him. 
Ardently religious, he attached the highest import- 
ance to the preservation of the Church, and believed 
that he was an instrument to this end. The vision 
of Mexico snatched from the hands of impious rebels 
and restored to the prestige of an ancient Empire, 
fascinated him, and with a vivid imagination, he 
pictured himself, and his Carlotta, whom he dearly 
loved, as the central figures of the great restoration. 
His expression of this thought at Naples, in 1857, so 
often quoted, proves how far he was carried by the 
vividness of his dreams. 

"The monumental stairway of the palace of Ca- 
serta is worthy of majesty. What can be finer than 
to imagine the sovereign placed at its head, resplen- 
dent in the midst of those marble pillars, — to fancy 



FRENCH INTERVENTION. • 353 

this monarch like a god graciously permitting the 
approach of human beings. The crowd surges up- 
ward. The king vouchsafes a gracious glance, but 
from a lofty elevation. All powerful, imperial, he 
makes one step towards them with a smile of infinite 
condescension. 

'■'■ Could Charles V., could Maria Theresa appear 
thus at the head of this ascending stair, who 
would not bow the head before that majestic power 
God-given ! I too, poor fluttering insect of a day, 
have felt such pride throb in my veins, when I have 
been standing in the palace of the Doges of Venice, 
as to think how agreeable it would be, not too often, 
but in rare solemn moments, to stand thus at the 
height of such an ascent, and glancing downward 
over all the world, to feel myself the First, like the 
sun in the firmament." 

All this had been arranged, as is now known by 
the dates of the preliminary correspondence, before 
the French commissioners were sent to Vera Cruz. 
The conciliating attitude of Juarez towards them 
took away the pretext under which they had entered 
the country, but they had no orders to retire. On 
the contrary, reinforcements soon arrived, and the 
Mexican President found himself obliged to put an 
army in their way. 

The expedition, whose object, no longer concealed, 
was " the triumph of the Latin race on American 
soil," advanced towards the capital. Mexico was 
divided by its two great parties for and against the 
invasion. The ultra-clerigos, secretly aware of the 
action of their party abroad, encouraged it ; but 



354 • THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

there were many amongst them who paused before 
the innovation of a foreign ruler on Mexican soil. 

French troops under the command of General Lo- 
rencez advanced upon Puebla, joined before they 
arrived there by a strong Mexican force of the cleri- 
cal party under Marques, so that they had a large 
and effective army. The resisting force in Puebla 
was much smaller, not more than two thousand 
strong, but the defence under General Zaragoza was 
brilliant against a vigorous attack. The French were 
driven off and had to retire to Orizaba. 

This is the victory of the Cinco de Mayo, or 5th of 
May, which the Mexicans celebrate as one of their 
best holidays. The battle was not in itself very im- 
portant, but its moral effect upon the Mexicans was 
great, encouraging them to continue their gallant 
defence of their country. They fought to resist 
foreign intrusion. At that time they scarcely knew 
why it was thrust upon them, and could not have 
dreamed of the extent to which imperial audacity 
on the other side of the ocean had dared to go. To 
impose upon a free and able-bodied people a sov- 
ereign of foreign birth, without the slightest sign of 
inclination on their part, was hardly justified by the 
argument that this party constituted an important 
minority. The extent of the enterprise dawned 
upon the people gradually, as the scheme of the 
French Emperor unfolded itself. Meanwhile, there 
was fighting in Puebla, and the long-suffering Mexi- 
cans again took up arms. 

The Indians, over whose villages peace for a few 
years had stretched her fostering wing, once more 



FRENCH INTERVENTION. 355 

heard the noise of cannon and the call to arms. 
The old troubled life had come back again. Repose 
was only a dream. 

On the 5th of May, every year, there are great re- 
joicings all over Mexico, but especially in the capi- 
tal, where a broad handsome street, well paved and 
lighted, is called the Cinco de Mayo. All the 
troops are reviewed on that day by the President. 
The buildings are hung deep with flags and decora- 
tions, and the streets crowded with a joyous popula- 
tion swarming to and fro, crying Vivas ! over the long 
procession of regiments marching through the city 
to the stirring sound of the Mexican national march. 

An adventure of which the French are very proud 
occurred in the following month. After retreating 
from Puebla, the army of Lorencez was quartered in 
Orizaba where they were closely watched by Zarago- 
za's men. A body of four or five thousand Mexican 
troops placed themselves upon the Cerro de Borrego, 
high above the town, whence they threatened to bom- 
bard it. The condition of the French within the 
town grew more and more uncomfortable,, food was 
giving out, and the presence of the overlooking 
enemy was, to say the least, annoying. 

A young captain, lately promoted, watched and 
followed a Mexican woman whom he saw day by day, 
as she climbed a steep path to the height, carrying a 
water jar upon her head to supply the Mexican army. 
The French officer entreated permission of his gen- 
eral to attempt the dislodgement of the enemy. This 
granted, in the deep darkness of night one hundred 
and fifty soldiers crept cautiously up the narrow path, 
unconsciously betrayed by the Indian woman, close 



356 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

to the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, as they arrived 
at the top, the ofificer called out " A inoiles Zouaves ! " 
'M inoi la Legion ! " giving such a volley of directions 
that the Mexicans imagined the whole French army 
was upon their traces. Startled from secure slumber, 
they were easily overcome. The French claim the 
destruction of three hundred men, a general, three 
colonels, and two heutenant-colonels, with all the 
arms and the colors of the Mexicans, who, if they 
survived the weapons of the small attacking party, 
fled and were lost in the steep slopes of the precipice. 

Fresh troops came from France, and by the 
beginning of another year the army of invasion, 
commanded by Marshal Forey, numbered forty 
thousand men, not counting the Mexicans on that 
side, whose numbers increased as the magnitude of 
the enterprise became known. 

Puebla again was the scene of the struggle. For 
two months General Ortega defended it obstinately, 
but food became scarce. A convoy bringing pro- 
visions, under charge of General Comonfort, was 
seized by the French under Marshal Bazaine, and 
on the 17th of May the besieged army was obliged 
to succumb, without capitulating. The French ad- 
vanced towards the capital, and the Mexicans aban- 
doned it, Juarez withdrawing towards the north, 
where he re-organized his government at San Luis 
de Potosi. He never relinquished his office during 
the whole of the French intervention, and remained 
all the time, in the minds of loyal Mexicans, and 
also in the language and opinion of the government 
of the United States, President of the still existing 
Mexican Republic. 



XXXVII. 

THE l^MPIRE UNDER PROTECTION. 

On the 28th of May, 1864, to the great joy of the 
Cabinet of the Tuileries, who had been much in fear 
that their scheme might fall through, the new sover- 
eigns arrived at Vera Cruz. They were but coolly 
received by the merchants of that port, and passed 
through it without ceremony, followed by the large 
suite they brought with them. But the priests had 
aroused the Indians en masse to welcome new rulers, 
who would, they were promised, restore their liber- 
ties and raise their condition. Crowds of these 
people in serapes and rebozos, with dark eyes full of 
questions, stood along the route of the imperial 
cortege as it left Vera Cruz. 

Nor was enthusiasm elsewhere wanting ; a real 
imperialist party sprang up from the soil, spon- 
taneously, on the appearance of the 'young prince 
and his consort. Had they known how to secure 
this popularity and make it permanent, these im- 
ported sovereigns might have reared for themselves 
a realm in the hearts of the impressionable people 
of Anahuac. Maximilian formed his idea of sover- 
eignty upon the absolute rule of the Middle Ages. 
He would not stoop to make popularity ; he expected 

357 



358 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

it to be freely offered. Indeed, he had assented to 
come onl}' when he was summoned by the voice of 
the whole Mexican people. This voice was the re- 
luctant vote of a Junta got together by the clerical 
party on purpose to satisfy his demand. But the 
charm of his presence, which was dignified and 
princely, and the winning manner of Carlotta, well 
fitted to play the part of gracious sovereign to an 
adoring people, won all hearts for the moment. 

A splendid reception was prepared in the capital. 
Triumphal arches spanned the principal avenues to 
the city, inscribed with the names of the personages 
who had brought about the glorious intervention. 
The streets, especially San Francisco and Plateros, 
were hung with banners of every color, set with ex- 
quisite flowers and plants. Rows of citizens and 
troops, dressed in their best, lined the way through 
which the open carriage of Maximilian and Carlotta 
made its way, preceded by the officers of state, and 
followed by a long retinue of public functionaries 
and persons of the highest aristocracy. Balconies 
and azoteas were crowded with curious gazers, and 
vivas were not wanting ; yet it is said that the 
populace kept away from the solemnity, or looked 
on coldly, at the advent of the foreign intruders. 

Maximilian was accompanied by a crowd of fol- 
lowers, — his escort, household servants, and retinue; 
and brought with him all the material for establish- 
ing in a new country a throne of the " right divine." 
Quantities of these things, for want of lumber-room, 
are now stored at the National Museum at Mexico, 
where one may see in glass cases much heavy silver 




"!i''!''l""''™ll''''^i''ia!i!ili:!:.lll:!!:J!iJilii:i!il!il,^ 



360 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

plate with the imperial arms, destined for the feasts 
of this descendant of Charles V. ; the decorations of 
the Emperor; and below in the courtway stands the 
great glass coach in which he sat with the Empress, 
as once sat Cinderella in a similar one. All these 
insignia of royalty they brought to impose upon 
their new thralls. 

And so the young sovereigns set about organizing 
their ideal court. All society was at their feet, and 
the society in Mexico at that time, if more pro- 
vincial than that of Paris or Vienna, yet had for 
Maximilian and Carlotta the merit of being their 
own domain. They were monarchs of all they 
surveyed. It was indeed a romance. All their 
debts paid by a generous Napoleon in the back- 
ground, a French army full-fledged to protect them, 
a throne, a court, a people ready-made to order, — all 
they had to do was to enter in and enjoy them. 

Marshal Bazaine, at the head of military affairs, set 
about the restoration of the arsenal, and repairing 
the damages made by the United States war. On 
his arrival he found the service of artillery entirely 
disorganized. Molino del Rey he restored to its 
functions of a foundry, so that it could furnish arms 
and munitions for the country. 

Napoleon had promised that the French troops 
should remain about Maximilian for six years, or 
until his own national army should be on such a 
footing as to be a proper protection to its Emperor. 
Bazaine was therefore occupied with the recon- 
struction of the army, with an eye to the distant day 
when he and his force might be recalled. 




CHAPULTEPEC IN THE TIME OF MAXIMILIAN. 
361 



362 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Meanwhile, Maximilian began to govern, accord- 
ing to his lights, which were liberal as far as the 
limit of absolute monarchy allowed. He sought to 
gain the friendship of the party allied to Juarez, 
holding the idea that this native chief of a half- 
civilized people had been driven of? the field for 
good, and that it was to be an easy task to replace 
his crude government with one based on loftier 
planes. He paid no attention to the new code of 
the reform, but began to impose his own regula- 
tions, and to legislate on all matters as if Mexico 
were still in its natural and primitive state. He 
readily listened to all sorts of plans for the construc- 
tion of telegraphs, railways, and other enterprises 
for the improvement of the country, with little heed 
to their vast expense. 

Among these was the restoration of the palace at 
Chapultepec, then in dismal ruin since the attack of 
the Americans. From their first glimpse of it the 
new sovereigns decided that here should be their 
home, the chosen dwelling which should recall the 
delights of Miramar ; recognizing it as the loveliest 
spot in all the broad valley of Anahuac. So thought 
the Aztec chiefs who sought its shade in their leisure 
moments ; so thought the viceroy, Galvez ; and so 
thinks every one now who drives from the city over 
the broad Paseo, built in the time of Maximilian, as a 
fit approach to the charmed palace. 

It stands on a height of two hundred feet above 
the valley ; a winding road from the avenue below, 
shaded by huge trees, leads to a platform where are 
the great stone buildings of the lower terrace be- 



THE EMPIRE UNDER PROTECTION. 363 

longing to the Military Academy, On these build- 
ings, which form its basement, is all the range of 
Maximilian's palace, including not only a suite of 
state apartments and smaller rooms, but, planted on 
soil brought up from below, a series of hanging gar- 
dens, surrounded by galleries with marble columns. 
From the tangle of shrubbery and climbing masses 
of neglected roses, can.be seen below, stretching far 
and wide, the extensive landscape, and from the 
terrace the incomparable view of the volcanoes, with 
the broad interval between. 

The interior decoration of Maximilian's palace was 
in imitation of Pompeii. It was furnished in the 
French taste with light stuffs and gold, very well 
suited to its sunny height and the pure atmosphere 
of the valley of Mexico. 

Fetes, receptions, dinners, and dances, every form 
of gay life, ruled the home at Chapultepec. The 
young Empress, animated and brilliant, was the 
centre of her court. For a time no shadow fell upon 
the bright prospect of the new Empire. 

The capital presented an unusually lively aspect. 
The French garrison filled the city with well-dressed 
regiments ; business received a new impulse from 
foreign merchants of all sorts, who came, at- 
tracted by the demands of a court for luxury ; 
the rich families of the capital displayed their wealth 
in all the splendor of luxurious living. After many 
years of discord and depression, the reaction brought 
about by this burst of prosperity pervaded the cap- 
ital. It was true that this satisfaction was felt only 
by high society. There was no real improve- 



364 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ment as yet in the resources of the country ; the 
middle class, with no greater facilities for living than 
before the new order of things, were poor and dis- 
contented, and murmured at the sight of rejoicing 
and luxury they could not share. Carlotta, with an 
open hand, distributed alms, drawn from the fortu- 
nate purse at her disposition ; but this, without 
method or definite aim, had no great efTect upon the 
general prosperity. 

In fact it was by no means the purse of a benevo- 
lent French Emperor that furnished funds for so 
much expenditure. A heavy loan was negotiated 
by '"e crown in 1864, in Paris and London, which 
brougtit to its use plenty of ready money, but en- 
tailed upon the nation a debt, of which it is not yet 
free. The cities and separate states of Mexico, at 
first readily surrendered to the troops of Maximilian, 
small foreign garrisons being left in each of the prin- 
cipal ones to maintain his authority by their presence. 
It was necessary to maintain military rule, however, 
for fear of relapse towards the Republic, and on ac- 
count of vast guerrilla bands, espousing the liberal 
cause, which infested roads and small villages, where 
constant encounters and actions took place with 
imperial troops. 

But the gay court of Maximilian little heeded 
these things. They left the army to Bazaine, and 
the government to the ministers. Never was Mex- 
ico so brilliant, so triumphant, so apparently at the 
zenith of prosperity, as during the brief time of the 
French intervention. 




XXXVIII. 



THE UNPROTECTED EMPIRE. 

But there came a day which put an end to all 
these festivities. 

^ The civil war in the United States was over, leav- 
ing the government at Washington at leisure to 
attend to outside affairs ; moreover, leaving T its 
disposition an army of well-trained troops, and a 
treasury well-filled, in spite of the drain on both of 
these through a protracted and destructive war 

On the 7th of April, 1864, the Secretary of State 
wrote thus to the United States Minister in Paris: 

"Sir:— I send you herewith the copy of the 
unanimous resolution passed in the House of Rep 
resentatives the 4th instant. It comprises the op- 
position of this body to any recognition of a mon- 
archy in Mexico. . . . It is scarcely necessary, 
after what I have previously written you, to say 
that this resolution sincerely expresses the unani- 
mous sentiment of the people of the United States." 

The will of the United States government settled 
the question, and this will was most distinctly made 
manifest. The French Emperor could not involve 
his people in a war with the United States, nor did 

365 



366 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

he himself, ah-eady somewhat weary of his own 
scheme for establishing the supremacy of the Latin 
race upon the western continent, regard it as worth 
the risk of such a war. He readily assented to any 
proposition of the government at Washington, 
whose imperative demand was the withdrawal of 
French troops from the continent of North America. 

Louis Napoleon has been much blamed for his con- 
duct in the matter of the French intervention, even 
execrated. Tt is not easy to defend it, but it may be 
said that from the European point of view, the plan 
of intervention was not such a bad one. Undoubt- 
edly it originated in the minds of the royalist 
refugees from Mexico, who sincerely saw no better 
way of serving their country, torn in pieces with 
internal dissensions and civil wars, than to furnish 
her with a ready-made crown from the continent 
where such articles are furnished. 

The Church party, which saw with genuine horror 
the sequestration of their property, ascribed it to the 
progress of so-called liberal ideas. They were warm- 
ly encouraged by good Roman Catholics in Europe, 
and among them by the Emperor at Versailles, who 
professed himself an ardent adherent of the Pope. 

The scheme was possible, because the powerful 
neighbors of Mexico were occupied in quarrelling 
among themselves. That quarrel might last until 
the Latin race had firmly taken root. Napoleon 
never intended a permanent French occupation of 
the country. It was his whim to plant the little 
monarchy, water it and dig about its roots, and then 
go away to attend to other affairs. 



THE UNPROTECTED EMPIRE. 36/ 

The American quarrel did not last, nor did the 
monarchy take root. The French troops were with- 
drawn before the government of the Empire was in 
any sense fully established. The national army 
which Bazaine sought to establish on a firm footing 
was not strong enough or loyal enough to uphold 
the Emperor, and he was sacrificed. 

Everybody wished him to abdicate. Napoleon 
sent a special messenger to Mexico to urge this 
course ; Bazaine urged it, and it seems now as iC 
Maximilian himself must have perceived that there 
was nothing else left for him. But he was very slow 
to admit such an idea. Neither he nor the Empress 
in any sense realized their perilous position. 

At the end of June, 1866, came the final word of 
Napoleon, in reply to an appeal sent to him from 
Maximilian, upon which he, and still more Carlotta, 
had founded great hopes. The message of the French 
Em.peror was short, its tenor distinct, hard, making 
it clear that no further support was to be furnished 
by the Tuileries to the Mexican project ; the condi- 
tions were hard, asserting that the troops must be 
immediately withdrawn. Maximilian at last under- 
stood that but one course was left to him — abdica- 
tion. On the 7th of July he took up his pen to 
sign away the Mexican monarchy ;' but the Empress 
stayed his hand. Carlotta, of a will stronger than 
that of her husband, with a determined ambition, 
offered to go herself to Europe to make a personal 
appeal to Napoleon and another at Rome. On the 
very next day she left the capital in haste, never to 
return. 



368 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

It is said that on arriving at Vera Cruz the Em- 
press could find nothing at the quay but a small 
French boat to carry her out to the great steamer in 
the offing. She absolutely refused to place herself 
under the French colors which floated at the stern 
of the boat, so bitterly she felt the insult offered to 
her interests by the French nation. 

She arrived at Saint-Nazaire early in August, to 
the surprise of the local authorities, and, still more, 
of the court of the Tuileries. The report of the 
arrival of the Empress of Mexico produced a sensa- 
tion at Paris, for public opinion there was already 
interested in the Mexican drama. When Carlotta 
landed she was the object of a large crowd assembled 
on the docks. She appeared dressed in deep mourn- 
ing, with great sadness of demeanor. Her face was 
pale and haggard, and her eyes burned with fever. 
She was accompanied only by a few ladies and 
gentlemen of her house. No preparation, of course, 
had been made for her; di covaraon voit lire de place 
took her to the hotel. Her Mexican servants, with 
their large sombreros trimmed with gold braid, made 
a sensation in the French port. 

The next day she arrived in Paris, and went to the 
Grand Hotel, refusing to ask hospitality at the 
Tuileries. The imperial family was at Saint Cloud. 
She at once sent to request an immediate interview 
with Napoleon HI. 

The Minister of State paid her a visit immediately, 
and she passed part of the day in conversing with 
him. The next morning she went to the palace, 
although the Emperor had sent word that he was 



THE UNPROTECl'ED EMPIRE. 369 

indisposed. Finally he concluded to see her. She 
eloquently demanded, on the part of Maximilian, 
continued aid, in money and troops. The interview 
was long and violent, it is said, and full of recrimina- 
tion. The Empress, as all the fair structure of 
hopes she had raised since her departure from 
Chapultepec crumbled before her, gave way to bitter 
emotion. She declared that she, a king's daughter, 
of the blood of Orleans, had made a terrible mistake 
to accept a throne from the self-made Emperor of 
the French, a Bonaparte. 

From this scene at Saint Cloud the madness of 
the new Empress is thought to have begun. She had 
scarcely the force left to continue her course to the 
Vatican, where she found no more redress than she 
had done at the Tuileries. The whole of Europe 
had soon to shudder at the news that she had lost 
her reason. She never returned to Mexico. 

It was by way of the United States that Maxi- 
milian first heard of the failure of the interview at 
Saint Cloud. He kept silent, still hoping better 
success from the negotiations of the Empress with 
the Pope ; but meanwhile he quietly made prepara- 
tions for his departure from Mexico, giving out that 
it was his intention to meet the Empress at Vera 
Cruz on her return. Much household baggage had 
been already transferred thither, and the rumor 
spread abroad, of the probable departure of the royal 
household, producing a lively sensation throughout 
the country. 

The time was drawing near. Maximilian, at 
Chapultepec, under the melancholy boughs of the 



370 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

cypresses, gloomily paced the alleys, dreaming of 
his shattered hopes. A telegraphic despatch was 
put in his hands, sent through the United States, It 
announced that the Empress Carlotta was mad. 
Maximilian at once gave orders for departure, and 
wrote to Bazainethat he was about to leave Mexico. 

The society of the capital was struck with grief at 
the news of Carlotta's state, for they had an ardent 
adoration of their brilliant Empress. 

The Emperor went first to Orizaba, where he was 
obliged to delay the many necessary final arrange- 
ments. There was no railway then, and the journey 
was made in a carriage. Maximilian preserved a 
gloomy silence all the way. As the little party ap- 
proached Orizaba early in the morning, having passed 
a night in a little village on the way, Maximilian 
alighted to walk down the zig-zag way which leads 
from the plateau towards the tierra caliente. He 
walked swiftly and silently, wrapped in a long gray 
coat, a broad-brimmed sombrero on his head, some- 
times turning to glance back at the heights he might 
never see again. While they were stopping at noon 
for rest and refreshment, the eleven white mules 
which drew their carriages were stolen ; it was a long 
time before other animals could be found to take 
their places. Finally, the sun was setting as they 
reached the pretty village of Ingenio, outside of Ori- 
zaba. There awaited the little party a group of 
horsemen, inhabitants of Orizaba, and several curates, 
who had come out to greet the Emperor, followed 
by a crowd of Indians. Bells were rung, guns fired, 
and his welcome was universal. 



THE UNPROTECTED EMPIRE. 37 1 

The Emperor stayed a week in Orizaba, dur- 
ing which Bazaine impatiently awaited in Mexico 
his final announcement of departure. But Maxi- 
milian was still hesitating. He was approached and 
surrounded by certain members of the clerical party, 
who felt sure that the fall of the monarchy would be 
their ruin. Among these was Father Fischer, to 
whom Maximilian accorded the greatest confidence. 

This man, of German origin, emigrated to Texas 
about 1845, 3.nd afterwards, in search of gold, to 
California. He was at first a Protestant, but con- 
verted, received orders somewhere in Mexico, and 
obtained the post of secretary to the Bishop of Du- 
rango. He was introduced to Maximilian, who was 
attracted by his appearance, which betrayed great 
intelligence ; he became one of the most trusted 
advisers of the Emperor. He succeeded in surround- 
ing Maximilian with agents of the reactionary, or 
clerical party, who urged him not to abandon them 
at this dark hour, at the same time assuring him of 
the hidden force of the party, and its resources. At 
this very time the city of Oaxaca, defended by Mex- 
ican imperial troops, was obliged to capitulate and 
open its doors to Porfirio Diaz, the general of liberal 
forces. Yet Maximilian wavered. It was difficult, 
even yet, for him to renounce the crown of his 
visions. Moreover, honor, fidelity to the Church, 
prompted him to remain, even to perish for that 
cause. Just then, to reinforce the eloquence of 
Father Fischer, two generals, devoted to the clerical 
cause, who had been in exile in Europe for two years, 
disembarked at Vera Cruz, and instantly offered their 



372 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

services to the Emperor; these were Miramon and 
Mdrquez, eager, as they declared, to open the cam- 
paign again under the imperial banner. Maximilian, 
inspired by their discourse and their promises of 
arms and money, hesitated no longer, but pledged 
his word to the clerical party to return to his station, 
and resume its dignities. Miramon hastened to 
Mexico to rouse the ardor of all the partisans of the 
Church, and to set on foot a new army. 

.The Emperor issued a manifesto to the Mexican 
people, and returning to Mexico, instead of going 
back to the palace of Chapultepec, took up quarters 
in a modest haciejida outside the capital, called La 
Teja. 



XXXIX. 



MAXIMILIAN. 



General-in-Chief Bazaine, the envoy from the 
Tuileries, and all true friends of the Emperor, heard 
with dismay his resolution to remain. His peaceful 
abdication had been hoped for by all parties. Bazaine 
sought to withdraw his troops, since withdraw they 
must, in as orderly a manner as possible. Overtures 
had even been made with the liberals, in regard to 
a successor to Maximilian, that all parties might be 
harmonized if possible, so that the country should 
find itself under firm hands, just as if there had been 
no French intervention, as soon as the Republic was 
clear of French troops. But the manifesto of the 
Emperor rendered all such hopes vain. The in- 
sistance of the United States and repeated orders 
from France made it necessary to remove the French 
troops without delay. French steamers awaited 
them off the coast of Vera Cruz, and the hour of 
departure was fixed. 

At the end of the month of January, 1867, the 
French army, in full retreat, rolled out its long course 
" like a ribbon of steel " over the dusty route between 
the capital and Vera Cruz. Cannons were broken 
up, horses were sold for almost nothing, to reappear 

373 



374 ^^^ STORY OF MEXICO. 

later in the ranks of the liberal army. On the 5th 
of February the tri-colored flag of France, which had 
floated over French head-quarters, was lowered; the 
capital was freed from the occupation of the French. 
Moreover, the Belgian and Austrian troops went too, 
for the Emperor was unwilling to retain them, re- 
solving to trust himself wholly to the arms of his 
Mexican subjects. 

Meantime Juarez, much encouraged by the aspect 
of things and by intimations of approval from the 
government of the United States, had advanced 
from the north, where he had been lying in wait for 
better times, and fixed his residence, with his Cabinet, 
which he always kept about him, in Zacatecas. 
General Escobedo, chief of his armies in the north, 
had reconquered that portion of the country as far 
as San Luis de Potosi, and the greater part of the 
cities and states, abandoned by the French, fell at 
once into the hands of the liberals. 

It was thought best by the imperialists to advance 
towards the enemy as far as Queretaro, and there the 
army established itself, Maximilian with it, while 
Miramon advanced towards Zacatecas and surprised 
it, almost taking Juarez prisoner with his whole 
government. 

The Emperor was accompanied almost wholly by 
Mexicans, only a few Europeans being about him. 
He was determined to excite no jealousy in the 
minds of his subjects by apparent preference for those 
of his own country. As for the French, they were no 
longer desired by him. General Marquez was his 
quartermaster-general ; his aides-de-camp were Mexi- 



MAXIMILIAN. 



375 



can ; his physician accompanied him, Dr. Basch, who 
was a worthy and devoted friend up to his last mo- 
ments. Personally attached to the Emperor was the 
young Prince Felix of Salm-Salm, who had been 
fighting in the civil war of the United States, and 
came to Mexico, for want of other occupation. He 
attached himself to the cause of Maximilian with a 
devotion which became ardent before the end. Be- 
sides these gentlemen, the Emperor had with him a 
Hungarian cook and four Mexican servants. 

Thanks to the vigorous measures of Miramon and 
the clerical party, Maximilian found himself at the 
head of an army of more than eight thousand men. 
Among these were found the most active and valiant 
chiefs of the old regular army, who showed great 
bravery, as did their trained soldiers, but nearly half 
the troops were raw Mexican recruits, ready to run 
away at a moment's notice. • 

Queretaro was soon invested by the army of the 
north under General Escobedo. Daily skirmishes 
took place, which showed great daring on both sides. 
The troops of the Emperor sallied out for provi- 
sions, of which there was soon sore need within the 
besieged city, returning after each attack to their 
quarters, around which the liberals were drawing 
their lines closer and closer. The investment lasted 
two months, during which General Marquez was 
sent by Maximilian to the capital for those forces 
and funds which had been so confidently promised 
him by the clergy. Marquez succeeded in avoiding 
the liberal army, but never returned, and no rein- 
forcements whatever were sent to Queretaro. He 



3/6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

made use of the troops and funds he was able to 
raise in the capital in order to attack General Diaz 
who was advancing upon Puebla. Diaz captured 
Puebla, after a siege of twenty-five days, and then 
turned round and utterly routed Mdrquez, who, tak- 
ing refuge in flight, returned almost alone to the 
capital under cover of the night. Had he brought 
back his troops to the succor of Queretaro, the imme- 
diate result might have been different, but the fall of 
the Empire could not be long delayed. During this 
long and trying siege, the conduct of Maximilian was 
admirable. He won everybody by the gentleness 
and cheerfulness of his bearing, brave to a fault, and 
exposing himself fearlessly to the fire of the enemy. 
Several plans of escape were formed, by which the 
Emperor, with a few guards, was to disappear from 
the city and place himself at the head of his troops 
elsewhere, but these were generally frustrated at the 
last moment by the unwillingness of Maximilian to 
abandon his brave companions, from a delicate sense 
of honor. 

Maximilian, at Queretaro, is described by the 
Prince of Salm-Salm, as generally in citizen's dress ; 
but when he stood at the head of his troops he wore 
the uniform of a general of division. 

H!e was about six feet high, of a slender figure. 
His movements and gait were light and graceful, 
his greeting especially genial. He had fair hair, not 
very thick, which he wore carefully parted in the 
middle. His beard was fair and very long, and he 
nursed it with great care, parting it in the middle, 
and frequently stroking it with his hand. His skin 



MAXIMILIAN. 377 

was pure and clear, and his eyes were blue. His 
mouth had the unmistakable stamp of the Hapsburg 
house, but not so strongly marked as with some of 
his illustrious family. The expression of his face was 
kind and friendly, and so was his bearing ; even with 
Kis intimate friends he was never familiar, but pre- 
served a certain dignity of manner. He was true to 
his friends and loyal to a fault, for he never could 
suspect treachery in those who surrounded him. His 
love of beauty and harmony was so great that he 
was easily captivated by handsome people with pleas- 
ing manners, and he could not divest himself of the 
idea that a fine human form must contain a noble 
soul. The strength of mind and moral dignity he 
displayed when his misfortunes came upon him, and 
the sadness of his fate, silence whatever criticisms of 
his course may be suggested by the events of his 
briefcareer in Mexico. 

The condition of the foreign army shut up in 
Quer^taro became more and more painful. Provi- 
sions grew scarce. Maximilian, with the greatest 
serenity, accepted the coarse, tough food which was 
all that could be had. The only hope of the garri- 
son was in Marquez, and day after day brought only 
disappointment, as no troops appeared from the 
capital. 

On the night of the 14th of May, Gen. Lopez, who 
had the charge of the most important point in 
Queretaro, the Convent de la Cruz, betrayed his 
trust and admitted two battalions of the enemy into 
the citadel. From this point they advanced to other 
parts of the city, where all became at once terror 



3/8 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

and confusion. Lopez had been won by the Hb- 
erals, but he had not intended that the Emperor 
should be captured, and indeed gave him ample 
warning that he might escape. With his aides-de- 
camp Maximilian passed, untouched, by some liberal 
soldiers and gained a little hill just outside the town. 
Here he surrendered to a detachment of the victo- 
rious army and delivered up his sword. The horse 
of the Emperor was brought to him, and the little 
party rode to meet Escobedo, the victorious general. 
Generals Miramon and Mejia were also then taken 
prisoners. Mendez, another imperialist, succeeded 
ia lying concealed for a few days, but being found, 
he was shot at once. 

For a month Maximilian and his generals remained 
prisoners in Queretaro, while their fate hung unde- 
cided in the hands of Juarez. Even then there were 
propositions for the escape of the Emperor, boldly 
planned and helped by ample funds ; but he always 
failed at the last moment to avail himself of them. 

The Princess of Salm-Salm, an American by birth, 
was as devoted to the cause of the unfortunate 
Emperor as her husband. She showed great energy 
and courage at Queretaro, visiting Maximilian and 
carrying messages between him and the Prince, 
from whom he was separated. She even went to 
San Luis do Potosi to beseech the clemency of the 
liberal chief, Juarez, or at least obtain a delay, but 
her pleading was in vain. 

The decision of the President, which nothing 
could shake, was, that the traitors, as they were 
called, should be tried by court-martial. The trial 




llilllli 



380 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

was but a farce, the result a foregone conclusion, 
although the cause of Maximilian was eloquently 
urged by his counsel, Mariano Riva Palacios and 
Rafael Martinez de la Torre. 

Maximilian met his death with great composure 
and heroism. He rose early on the fatal morning, 
and at five o'clock mass was celebrated. With the 
stroke of six o'clock a liberal officer came to take 
him. He said " I am ready," and came from his cell, 
where he was surrounded by his few servants, who 
wept and kissed his hands. He said to them : " Be 
calm ; you see that I am so. It is the will of God 
that I should die ; against that we cannot strive." 

Miramon and Mejia came forward, and he. em- 
braced them both. On arriving in the street he 
looked round him, and drawing a deep breath, said : 
" What a beautiful day ! On such a one I have 
always wished to die." 

The streets were crowded ; every one greeted the 
condemned Archduke with respect ; the women wept 
aloud. He responded to these greetings with his 
usual gentle smile. 

He made a short address to the Mexicans, of 
which these were the last words : 

" Mexicans ! May my blood be the last spilt for 
the welfare of the country, and if more should be 
shed, may it flow for its good, and not by treason. 
Viva Independencia ! Viva Mexico ! " 

Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia were all shot at 
the same moment. 

Thus really closed the episode of the French inter- 
vention in Mexico. The foreig-n intruder, encour- 



382 



THE STORY OF MEXICO. 



aged by the short-lived intention of a European 
potentate to plant the Latin race upon the soil of 
the New World, abandoned by his instigator, be- 
trayed by his few remaining troops, was dead. There 
was no longer question of a foreign prince upon the 
Aztec throne. 




^M 


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^^ 


^^m 


^B 


^w 



XL. 

END OF THE EPISODE. 

The city of Mexico, after the departure of Maxi- 
milian for Queretaro, had remained tranquil awaiting 
events. The Emperor sent back immediately Gen- 
eral Santiago Vidaurri, who had accompanied him 
out of the capital, with full powers to govern the 
city. 

This man had been one of the chiefs of the liberal 
party, and had often fought, on the opposite side, 
both Marquez and Miramon. As governor of the 
state of Nueva Leon, he had brought its administra- 
tion into such good order that it was an example to 
the rest of Mexico. Disgusted with anarchy, and 
disliking Juarez personally, he espoused the cause of 
Maximilian as the best chance for his country of 
regular government ; yet he always remained a lib- 
eral, not joining the clerical party, and thus was dis- 
trusted by Miramon arid the rest, who kept him 
away from the Emperor as much as they could. 
Nevertheless Maximilian, recognizing his worth and 
his capacity for organization, entrusted him with the 
charge of the capital. But Marquez, when he 
reached Mexico, after successfully evading the 
enemy around Queretaro, instead of sending back 

383 



384 THE SrORY OF MEXICO. 

money and troops to succor that besieged place, 
assumed the position of lieutenant of the Empire, 
and proceeded to govern the capital. Vidaurri 
withdrew from the scene, and from that time was 
allowed no part in the affairs of the imperialists ; yet 
he did not escape judgment from the liberals, and 
was shot, among the first examples of their govern- 
ment restored to power. 

Marqucz was intended for the same fate, but he 
kept in hiding, and succeeded later in escaping to 
the coast, where he embarked for Havana. He then 
returned to Mexico, after travelling abroad under an 
assumed name. He is described as a lively little 
man with black hair and sharp black eyes. He wore 
a full beard, which concealed a disfiguring scar on 
his cheek caused by a bullet wound. His cruelty in 
war won him the name of the " Mexican Alva," but 
that stern old campaigner better deserves the re- 
spect of posterity than such a namesake. Alva 
would not have left a besieged city to fall a prey to 
one enemy, while he led his troops to a futile en- 
counter with another one more powerful than his 
own force. 

The brilliant capture of Puebla by General Por- 
firio Diaz brought into prominence this name, which 
has since been of the greatest importance in the 
story of Mexico. 

Puebla, after the departure of the French troops 
from the country, Avas left in the hands of General 
Noriega. It had been in the possession of the im- 
perialists scarcely five years, and the courageous 
repulse of the French troops on the 5th of May, 



END OF THE EPISODE. 385 

1862, was still fresh in every Mexican mind, as in- 
deed it is to-day, an inspiring example of their 
capacity for defending their homes. Yet the imperi- 
alists held the city for twenty-five days, in spite of 
the vigorous attack, at five separate points, by the 
liberals. Diaz himself, with two companions, was 
buried for a time underneath a falling roof, and 
thought to be lost, but they were rescued after a few 
moments without injury. It was General Diaz, with 
his troops, who took possession of the capital for 
the liberals on the 21st of June, 1867. Assuming 
military command, he at once introduced order into 
the city, providing corn and food for the hungry 
population, who stood in great need of it. No per- 
secution visited the conquered imperialists, with the 
exception of the active leaders, who were condemned 
to be shot or imprisoned. 

The vigorous action of the liberal government 
towards Maximilian and the imperialist generals, 
however, impressed the country with its inflexible 
determination, as well as its power to execute its 
intent. The Republic reinstated upon the ruins of 
so brief an attempt at monarchy, Mexican rule, after 
the bold effort to ingraft upon the country a foreign 
potentate, proved to have a firmer grasp upon the 
country than in all its previous essays. 




XLI. 



THE LAST OF SANTA ANNA. 



On the 15th of July, Juarez made a solemn entry 
into the capital. Many good citizens of Mexico, 
who had watched gloomily the whole episode of the 
French intervention, now emerged to light and re- 
joiced conspicuously in the return of their legitimate 
chief. Juarez, all this time, had never relinquished 
his title of President, but wherever he found himself 
had kept up the state due to the office, and retained 
his Cabinet. He was received with genuine accla- 
mations by the populace, while high society re- 
mained within doors, curtains close-drawn, except 
that the women took pride in showing their deep 
mourning for the death of the Emperor. The reign 
of French fashions and frivolity was over when the 
troops of Bazaine marched from the town. There 
are still lurking in the capital descendants of French 
pastry-cooks and barbers, who shake their heads 
mournfully over the good old days, all too brief, of 
the imperial court. A French flavor still lingers 
about the capital ; it is welcome in the excellent 
cuisine of the Cafe Anglais, and is evident in the 
handiwork of certain Parisian modistes. 

Peace now came back to the country. A gen- 
386 



THE LAST OF SANTA ANNA. 38/ 

eral election established Juarez as President, and 
order and progress once more consented to test the 
good resolutions of the Republic. The first days of 
the new era were tranquil, and all went well, in spite 
of the restlessness of generals of the liberals them- 
selves, who could ill bear to forego their inherent 
tendency to disputing and wrangling. Above all, 
Santa Anna was still alive, and it was not to be 
hoped that he would hold himself aloof from a share 
in the prosperity of the nation. 

He had retired to the Island of St. Thomas, and 
was growing old. Yet he watched from afar every 
turn of affairs in Mexico. No sooner had Maxi- 
milian landed at Vera Cruz, than he received a let- 
ter of congratulation from Santa Anna, expressing 
his entire approval of the French scheme, and his 
wish to further it. He even came to Vera Cruz to 
lend his services to the Emperor, but as no notice 
whatever was taken of these overtures, he became 
indignant and withdrew his countenance from the 
new government. He went to New York, and fixed 
his residence in Elizabethport, New Jersey, where he 
published manifestoes against the Empire and the 
French, and sought an alliance with Juarez. The 
President, like the Emperor, ignored all overtures 
from the Mexican king-maker, who instantly turned 
his superabundant energies to conspiring against 
the Republic, just as it was struggling to take up, 
once more, the threads of order. 

On the I2th of July, 1867, he was seized on board 
a steamboat he had fitted out, charged with con- 
spiring against government, and narrowly escaped 



388 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

being shot on the spot ; but more moderate meas- 
ures prevailed, and he was allowed a legal trial by 
a council of war. Doubtless influenced by all his 
real services at the head of the national army, 
which in time past he had conferred upon his 
country, and through untiring efforts in his behalf 
by his friends and family, this council did not con- 
demn him to death, but a sentence was passed upon 
him of exile for eight years. He returned to St. 
Thomas, much impoverished by this last attempt 
against good government, and broken with years 
and failure. 

At the end of his time of exile, or perhaps, in- 
deed, before its expiration, he returned quietly to 
the city of Mexico, and died there on the 20th of 
June, 1876, in his house in the Calle de Vergaza. 
He was over eighty years old, blind, lame, poor. 
His last days were embittered by his sensitive con- 
viction that his great deeds were not appreciated by 
his country. He was buried in the city of Guada- 
lupe, without honors or recognition by government, 
who, naturally, it may be supposed, retained their 
fear of rousing the populace even by so dead a lion. 

A family connection of Santa Anna has written a 
life of him, in which fulsome justice is done to his 
good qualities. He says, and perhaps with reason, 
that had he died immediately after the loss of his 
leg in driving the French from Vera Cruz " this 
benemerito mutilado had surely left not one single 
personal enemy." 

With great gifts of bravery and military skill, and 
with a love of his country it is but fair to allow 



THE LAST OF SANTA ANNA. 389 

him, probably not possessing the black character- 
istics ascribed to him by his enemies, he was at 
the best a turbulent, troublesome creature, an ex- 
ponent in his own person of all the dangerous 
qualities of the Mexican character, which for so 
long a time have kept the country far away from 
the true path to prosperity. 

The character of Juarez, on the other hand, rep- 
resents precisely the opposite qualities of the 
Mexican race, inherited from his Indian parentage, — 
endurance, patience, imperturbability. Calm in the 
midst of exciting elements, he knew how to stand 
and wait for his turn. These qualities, so useful to 
him in adversity were supplemented by executive 
ability, good sense, and prompt action, which, when 
he returned to power, enabled him to rule wisely 
without losing his balance on the giddy height of 
success, like many of his predecessors. 

His seat was not secure, and peace was not con- 
firmed in emotional Mexico. The restless popu- 
lation, untrained to any permanent government, 
wearied of his rule, and early in his administration be- 
gan to clamor that he had been President long enough. 
This people, scarcely yet freed from three hundred 
years of foreign control, found four years of one 
liberal leader enough to convert him in their eyes 
into a tyrant. As the period of election approached, 
in 1 87 1, party lines became sharply divided, and the 
question of his return to power was warmly con- 
tested. A large body still advocated the re-election 
of Juarez, as of the greatest importance to the con- 
solidation of the Constitution and reform,, but the 



390 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

admirers of military glory claimed the honors of 
President for General Diaz, who had done so much, 
at the head of the army, to restore the Republic. A 
third party represented the interests of Lcrdo, min- 
ister of Juarez all through the epoch of the inter- 
vention, a man of great strength of character and 
capacity for government. The argument of the 
Lerdistas was that re-election was contrary to the 
principles of democratic government ; of the Por- 
firistas that their idol, Diaz, deserved the reward of 
the highest gift of his fellow-citizens ; of the Jiiaris- 
tas, that things were very well as they were, and 
had better so remain. 

The campaign was vigorous throughout the 
country. The press, the tribune, personal influence, 
were all at work in every state for each of the great 
parties. The election took place ; the Jicaristas were 
triumphant. Their party had a fair majority, and 
Juarez was re-elected. But the Mexicans not yet 
had learned to accept the ballot, and a rebellion fol- 
lowed. The two defeated parties combined, and 
civil War began again. 

Government defended itself with vigor and resolu- 
tion, and in spite of the popularity of General Diaz as 
a commander, held its own during a campaign of more 
than a year. Its opponents were still undaunted, 
and the struggle might have long continued but for 
the sudden death of Juarez, on the 19th of July, 
1872. At dawn of that day, the sound of cannon 
from the citadel fired at slow intervals awoke the 
population, who learned on inquiry that their 
President had died during the night. 



THE LAST OF SANTA ANNA. 391 

Juarez had a singularly robust constitution ; he 
habitually worked eight or ten hours a day without 
fatigue, but, unconsciously to himself, some organic 
infirmity was affecting him. He was seized during 
the night with great pain at the heart, and died very 
soon in much suffering. 

All society was deeply moved by the death of 
this their faithful servant, who had given his life to 
their service. Every party joined in the solemn 
ceremony of his burial, which took place attended 
by an immense concourse of citizens. 

Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, then President 
of the Supreme Court, assumed the government, 
was elected President, and the late agitation of 
parties was at an end. 



H^Wj 




^3^'?>4^>t^'^^l 


^@ 



XLII. 



PORFIRIO DIAZ. 



For three years peace reigned in Mexico, and then 
began another revolution. Towards the end of 
1875, rumors of dissatisfaction were afloat ; in spite of 
the present quiet, which seemed solid and durable, 
distrust reigned, yet no one voice proclaimed the 
nature of the malady. Early in the next year, a 
" Plan " was started, one of those fatal propositions 
for change which have always spread like wildfire 
through the Mexican community. By midsummer, 
the Republic was once more plunged in civil war. 

Although he had apparently no hand in the " Plan " 
of Tuxtepec, General Porfirio Diaz appeared at the 
head of the army of the revolutionists. He had 
been living quietly in the neighborhood of Vera 
Cruz, but now he emerged to take an active part in 
the general disturbance. 

Porfirio Diaz was born in Oaxaca, on the 15th of 
September, 1830. This state, the farthest of all the 
states to the south, and except Chiapas, the limit of 
the Mexican Republic, has many claims to distinc- 
tion. Its northern part formed the Marquezado, or 
grant, given in 1529 to Cortes, with the title of Mar- 
ques del Valle de Oaxaca. 

The scenery of Oaxaca is of the wildest and grand- 
392 



PORFlRiO DIAZ. 



393 



est in Mexico. Tlie Pass of Salomea, leading to the 
city, recalls those of Switzer- 
land. Wild animals, not only 
deer, but pumas and even the 
jaguar, roam over its slopes, cov- 
ered with fan-palms and other 
tropical growths, while higher 
up is a forest of palms and oaks 
growing together. At the sum- 
mit is a grand view of the valley 
of Oaxaca. 

The city, like Puebla, is of 
Spanish foundation, but at no 
very great distance from it are 
the ancient ruins of Mitla, still 
a puzzle to arch^ologists, since 
nothing certain is known even 
of the tribes found in that region 
by the Conquistadores, — the 
Zapotecas, or the traditions of 
their origin. Their customs seem 
to have been like those of the 
Mexicans, but their language 
resembled that of the Mayas. 
They were subject to long 
struggles with the Aztecs, and 
at the end of the 15th century 
their capital city, Mitla, was 
taken and given over to pillage, 
and the prisoners taken to 
Mexico to be offered up on the altars of Huitzilo- 
pochtii. 



ZAPOTEC ORNAMENT. 



394 



THE STORY OF MEXICO. 



The ruins stand in the midst of a gloomy, cheer- 
less landscape, of stunted vegetation, sandy soil, 
from which project dull gray rocks. No singing 
birds or even insects frequent the place ; the turkey- 
buzzard soars over the lonely tract under a gloomy 

sky, and dismal si- 
lence reigns around 
the abandoned ar- 
chitecture of a for- 
gotten race. Even 
the carvings of ge- 
ometric ornaments, 
without any human 
or animal forms, add 
to the gloom of this 
solitary spot. 

The present gen- 
erations of Oaxaca 
have the reputation 
of being the steady, 
independent moun- 
taineers of Mexico; 
like the Swiss, al- 
ways ready to defend 
their rights. Among 
them, Porfirio Diaz 
has been involved in every contest for his view of the 
right, since he was old enough to bear arms. He 
was, like many other of the Mexican generals, in- 
tended for the bar, and studied with that object, 
concluding the usual course in the seminary at 
Oaxaca; but in 1854 he served a campaign, returning 




IMAGE OF A ZAPOTEC CHIEF. 



PORFIRIO DIAZ. 395 

again to his studies only for a time. In tlie so 
called war of the reform he distinguished himself, and 
during the intervention was conspicuous as a mili- 
tary leader. In the disaster of Puebla, when, after 
the brilliant repulse of the Cinco de Mayo, the Mexi- 
cans had to give up the city to the French, Diaz 
escaped being taken prisoner, and hastened to 
Oaxaca, the city of his birth, which, with forces 
raised by his own efforts, he succeeded in putting 
in a state of defence. Bazaine himself marched 
against the resisting city, and it was obliged to 
capitulate. Porfirio was carried a prisoner to 
Puebla, and there held ; but he managed to escape 
after some months by letting himself down from his 
window with a rope in the middle of the night. 
This was in September. The next month, returning 
with a new army, Diaz besieged his own town, now 
in the hands of those who were lately its besiegers. 
While his brother Felix held the siege, Porfirio 
routed a column of French coming to the aid of the 
troops within the city, and after two weeks he com- 
pelled a surrender and entered it in triumph. Por- 
firio, always successful in' his contests with the 
French, continued so after their support was with- 
drawn from the imperialists. His military fame 
reached its height after the taking of Puebla, which 
was the last act in the French intervention, and the 
peaceful occupation of the city of Mexico. 
. All these feats of arms gave to the general who 
accomplished them a military prestige of great im- 
portance in a country where military prowess means 
so much as with the Mexicans. The revolution of 



39^ THE STORY OF MF.X/CO. 

the summer of 1876 gained importance from the 
arrival of Diaz at Vera Cruz. It is said that, alone 
and disguised, he was hastening thither from New 
Orleans in a steamer which, touching at Tampico, 
took on board a body of government troops 
destined for the same port. The favorite chief of 
the liberals, seeing that he was recognized by one of 
the Federal officers, and convinced he should be 
arrested by him, jumped overboard and swam away. 
He was seen and brought back to the steamer by 
friends, under cover of the dark, and so well con- 
cealed that his hiding-place was not discovered, and 
the impression was encouraged that he had either 
reached the shore by swimming, or been drowned. 
Disguised as a workman, he left the steamer among 
the boxes and bales of its cargo, and landed at Vera 
Cruz. Speedily furnished with horses and guards he 
made his way to Oaxaca, where he took command 
of the forces of the rebellion, hitherto scattered and 
insufficient for lack of a head. 

During the summer there was fighting and much 
confusion, in the midst of which the election took 
place for the choice of President for another term of 
four years. The result was in favor of Lerdo de 
Tejada, but he was so unpopular that he was obliged 
soon after to leave the capital, on the 20th of 
November, accompanied by his ministers and a few 
other persons. The other Lerdistas hid themselves. 
Congress dissolved, and the opposition triumphed. 

Thus ended the government of the Lerdistas, but 
a few days before the expiration of its legal term. 
On the 24th of November, General Porfirio Diaz 



c^ ^ 


-y. 




< 












39^ THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

made his solemn entry into the capital, and was pro- 
claimed Provisional President. 

After a good deal of fightmg all over the country, 
Congress declared him, in May 1877, to be Consti- 
tutional President for a term to last until Novem- 
ber 30, 1880. 

It was just after this successful general grasped 
the prize, that Santa Anna, forgotten, neglected, old, 
and blind, died close by, in his house in the Calle 
de Vergaza. 

But little more remains to be said of the govern- 
ment of Mexico up to the present time. President 
Diaz was able to consolidate his power, and to re- 
tain his seat without civil war, although this has 
been imminent at times, especially towards the end 
of his term. In 1880 General Manuel Gonsalez 
was elected, and on the 1st of December of that 
year, for the second time only in the history of the 
Republic, the retiring President gave over his ofifice 
to his legally elected successor. That this was pos- 
sible, is proof of great improvement in stability and 
the growth of steadiness and good judgment among 
the Mexicans. The administration of Gonsalez 
passed through its four years without any important 
outbreak, in spite of the difificult questions there 
were to deal with, chief among them the huge debt 
to England, contracted in the early days of the Re- 
public, and ever increasing by reason of unpaid in- 
terest. 

At the end of that term, General Diaz was re- 
elected and became President December i, 1884. 
The treasury of the country was empty, the Repub- 



PORFIEIO DIAZ. 399 

lie without credit, yet he has, by heroic measures, 
succeeded in placing his government upon a tolera- 
bly stable financial basis, and done much to restore 
the foreign credit of the Republic. President Diaz 
is disposed and able to serve his country by an ad- 
vanced and liberal policy. The result of his firmness 
and judgment is already seen in the returning con- 
fidence of nations and foreigners alike in Mexican 
affairs, and with it the rapid development of the re- 
sources of the country. 

President Diaz, with his handsome wife, the 
daughter of his Minister of the Interior, Manuel 
Romero Rubio, has not been able to resist the 
charm of Chapultepec, in spite of the melancholy 
associations hanging about the spot Carlotta loved 
and Maximilian adorned for her enjoyment. The 
Pompeiian apartments are restored, and the hang- 
ing gardens bloom with roses all the year, while 
fountains sparkle in the sunlight. From the broad 
terrace gleam in the distance the cold peaks of the 
volcanoes, while Mexico spreads wide in the valley 
its rectangular lines, every year stretching out far- 
ther in all directions, a practical proof to the wise 
chief of the administration, as he looks down upon 
them from the now peaceful height of his terrace, 
of the success of his schemes of improvement and 
progress. 

Let us hope that the tranquillity is permanent and 
that a long season of peace and prosperity has come 
to settle upon the long tormented, much enduring 
valley of Mexico, and the broad plateau of Ana- 
huac. 



400 ' THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Now, at last, may the Indians, descendants of the 
Aztec chief, look up and hope for the development 
of their race. For the first time in history they 
have a chance to show whether they are capable of 
taking a leading place among the races of the earth. 
Poor fugitives, hiding among the rus'hes of the lake, 
some centuries ago, their leaders knew how to build 
up a powerful, warlike nation, but the people were 
oppressed by the horrors of a bloody religion, de- 
graded and kept down by the practice of human 
sacrifice. The Spanish conquest brought them other 
rulers, and priests who gave to them a kindlier faith ; 
but their minds were little cared for, and they were 
still oppressed, like slaves, by the new race which 
came to govern them. 

Spanish domination civilized the Indians, but 
scarcely developed the powers which may exist in 
their natures. That yoke thrown off, they have 
seen their day of real freedom once and again post- 
poned, through the personal ambition of their own 
leaders, or the audacious interference of foreign 
powers, while their own blood has been made to 
flow freely for causes not really their own. In spite 
of all this, the native character has asserted itself 
with vigor wherever it has had a chance. Juarez, 
the first successful ruler of Mexico of real Mexican 
blood, by a true Indian trait of tenacity, held the 
government through the dark period of the interven- 
tion. Diaz, also of native descent, has kept the 
country in a progressive path. 

The true native character of Mexico has now a 
chance to assert itself. The future will look on with 



PORFIRIO DIAZ. 



401 



interest to see whether it has the capacity of self- 
government which its friends fully ascribe to it. If 
the Mexicans can profit by the sharp lessons taught 
them by the events of the present century; if they 
can root out of their nature the savage instincts 
which have given the national character its reputa- 
tion for cruelty — instincts, not only inherited from 
the bloody practices of the Aztec, but fortified by the 
dark streak of ferocity which belongs to the Spanish 
race ; if they can prove that the development of intel- 
lectual powers is possible to the race as well as to 
those individuals, then their country has before it 
the prospect of taking an honorable place among the 
peoples of the western continent. 




XLIII. 



PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES. 



The physical advantages of Mexico are favorable 
to its future prosperity. Of its great range of climate, 
the temperate one of the plateau may be said to 
be almost perfect. By descending towards the coast 
all the delights of the tropics may be enjoyed, while 
its lofty peaks afford adventure for the enterprising 
climber, ice for lower regions, and all the attractions 
of mountain scenery. Large lakes enhance the 
beauty of the landscape ; rivers, though not large, 
answer the purposes of irrigation and boundary 
lines ; an extended coast-line on the Pacific and that 
of the Gulf of Mexico offer opportunities, not yet 
much developed, for admirable harbors. 

There is every variety of vegetation in this varied 
climate. Forests of valuable woods, such as mahog- 
any, ebony, and rosewoods, extend over the tierra 
caliente ; higher up, oak and pine in abundance furn- 
ish supply for any demand. It is safe to say that 
any thing may be cultivated somewhere in Mexico. 
Corn, beans, wheat, rice, sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, 
cocoa, indigo, vanilla, are at present raised ; above all, 
coffee, which has a high reputation — that of C6r- 
dova and of Uruapam especially. The latter is con- 

402 



PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES. 403 

sidered by experts to be not only equal to the best 
Mocha, but similar to it in flavor. It is possible 
that it belongs to the same variety, brought from 
Arabia by unknown hands. The medicinal plants of 
Mexico have long been well known. Spanish histo- 
rians at the time of the conquest all speak of the 
knowledge of herbs possessed by the native doctors. 
They believed that all the ills that flesh is heir to, 
might be cured by proper use of the herbs of the 
field ; and they acquired in the course of generations 
great skill in adapting the remedy to the disease. 
Many of the drugs in general use all over the world 
were made known by Mexican research, such as sarsa- 
parilla, jalap, and rhubarb ; the number of emetics, 
antidotes, infusions, decoctions, ointments, balsams, 
known to the Aztecs, was enormous. To be sure, 
they attributed much of the power of these drugs to 
the prayers and ceremonies they offered up while 
they were applying them. 

The flora of Mexico is equally varied and beautiful. 
Growing by the roadside as common weeds, are to be 
recognized blossoms which are the pride of northern 
green-houses. Many ornamental Mexican plants 
became first known in the United States, after the 
war of J 848. Humboldt, half a century before,* had 
described the wealth and profusion of Mexican 
vegetation. As for fruits, every variety may be cul- 
tivated, in the hot lands ; many tropical kinds grow 
wild. Any market in any Mexican town is a delight 
by reason of the display of various fruits, heaped up, 
to tempt the customer, in little pyramids, and made 
bright with flowers. 



404 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

Not only in the large cities, but even smaller towns, 
travellers should be sure to visit the market-place. 
Generally one day in the week is market-day, when 
all the population swarms to the plaza, either to sell 
or buy, or both. It is the same in many towns in 
Europe ; but Mexico, at present, surpasses Europe 
in the picturesque costumes of the common people, 
the primitive fashion in which they display their sim- 
ple wares, and the entertaining activity of the busy 
population. 

Each booth is a small enclosure, built of low 
tables, shaded by a huge rectangular umbrella made 
of matting with four sticks only. A whole Indian 
family sits within at the receipt of custom. The old 
grandmother, her white hair smoothed down over her 
wrinkled old brown cheeks, with skinny trembling 
hands, but a glance like a hawk's, is taking pay or 
making change. Her daughter, the efficient business 
woman of the establishment, is young and active. Her 
long black hair is braided down her back, her eyes 
are bright, her teeth flash white when you make her 
smile by a joke about her prices. The father of the 
family lolls against the central post of the booth, 
tipping up his chair, after a custom not inherited 
from" the Aztecs, but borrowed from a neighboring 
nation. The tables are heaped with little piles, like 
cannon-balls, of red ciruelas, yellow apricots, or 
green abogatos ; in their season, delicious grenaditas, 
whose cup-like rind contains a juicy draught of lus- 
cious flavor. Oranges and bananas are on the table, 
under the table, over the table, everywhere. If you 
are very friendly, the old lady selects you as a gift 



PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES. 405 

the very best of all the bananas. Let not the wan- 
derer from the north be surprised to find it is, ac- 
cording to his estimation, far gone in decay. The 
natives eat bananas only dead ripe, when they are 
beginning to grow soft, — not as they are found in 
the northern market, hard and indigestible after a' 
long voyage without ripening influences. Hens and 
chickens are straying about, and a tough old rooster, 
tied by the leg, awaits the pot, after his purchaser 
shall have been found. 

You select such little heaps of fruit as please your 
inexperienced eye ; a small cargador, all eyes and 
teeth, springs up from the earth at your feet, with a 
big loose basket on his back. Every thing you buy 
is tumbled into it ; he follows you from stall to stall, 
accumulating such treasures as you select. You will 
not be able to resist several specimens of native 
pottery. This is generally spread out on the ground, 
while the vendor sits behind it. Manufacture of 
coarse pottery is carried on everywhere, and different 
regions have their distinctive varieties, influenced by 
different colored clays and methods of treatment. 
The ware of Guadalajara' is perhaps the most es- 
teemed ; it is of a soft gray in tint, polished but not 
glazedj and often delicately decorated with color and 
gold. But every village has its characteristic pottery, 
simple in form, pleasing in color, and although the 
pots and jugs are so fragile that it is hopeless to 
think of packing them securely, it is impossible to 
resist their attractions compared with the trifling 
sum demanded for them. 

The basket of your cargador, well filled with fruit 



406 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

and figs, and heaped high with sweet peas and pop- 
pies, the httle fellow runs before you to the hotel 
where he deposits his burden, and goes away fully 
content with a medio in his hand — 6\ cents. 

A Mexican market is interesting, apart from such 
simple purchases as the traveller may be inclined to 
make on his own account, because the people are all 
so absorbed in their own affairs. They scarcely give 
a thought to the few foreigners with European 
clothes and staring manners poking about among 
them. This good Indian mother has come to buy 
the daily food of her family. Some dreadful viand 
is dipped for her out of a deep dish, and transferred 
to her little pottery bowl. A violent discussion 
ensues about the price to be paid, and neighbors 
gather round to offer their opinions. The rebozos of 
the women slip off their heads and show their white 
shirts — not always white — and their brown well- 
formed arms. The men look on idly and let their 
better halves fight it out. A compromise is effected, 
and the excitement subsides as suddenly as it rose. 
The contested sum was probably a tlaco — small, but 
much-beloved coin, worth one cent and a half. 

Besides the manufacture of pottery, the Indians 
make themselves all the wearing apparel they use, 
such as cotton and woollen cloth, including scrapes 
and rebozos, the two picturesque garments in constant 
use. The scrape is a woollen blanket which every 
man winds about him whenever the air is a little 
chilly. It serves him many a time for not only 
blanket, but sheet and bed as well, since his sleeping- 
place is often a sheltered door-way, and no more. 



PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES. 407 

Certain towns are famous for their serapes — those of 
San Miguel are especially good, and some of them 
are very pretty. Travellers buy them and carry them 
off to serve as portieres or afghans at home. The 
Indian taste for colors, though gaudy, is naturally 
controlled by a good perception of harmonious effects. 
Unluckily in late years, the aniline dyes of recent 
discovery have brought into the country a facility 
for making intense purples, magentas, and violent 
blues, which have dazzled their untrained eyes. For 
this reason, many modern serapes are too violent in 
coloring; and aesthetic collectors must seek for old 
fabrics, among which some examples are lovely in 
tone. The rebozo is a long broad scarf, generally 
blue, worn by every woman over her head, instead 
of hat or bonnet. It protects her shoulders also, and 
conceals whatever deficiency of style or cleanliness 
may exist underneath. It is made of cotton, but has 
some "warmth in its soft folds. The dexterity is 
wonderful with which even little girls wind these 
wraps around their heads, in such a way as to keep 
firm, while the ends fall in not ungraceful lines over 
one arm laden with a basket, a bundle, or a baby, 
while the other arm and hand are free. A large 
quantity of cotton is grown in Mexico, and upwards 
of fifty thousand families, Mr. Janvier says, are sup- 
ported in its manufacture. The cotton mills are pro- 
vided with English machinery of approved type, and 
the business is carried on by a few operators upon a 
large scale. The Indians show ready intelligence in 
understanding their work in the mills, and remark- 
able aptitude in acquiring methods of handling what- 



408 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

ever improvements in machinery may be from time 
to time introduced. 

A large establishment for the manufacture of 
cotton cloth not far from the city of Mexico, which 
has been in operation for years in the hands of an 
English house, is like a little city in itself. Its large 
enclosure is surrounded by strong walls, upon which 
are still the cannon necessary in the troublous times 
of the young Republic to protect the place. Paved 
streets within the great gate of entrance lead to the 
extensive buildings, the home of the families of the 
. proprietors, hung with vines and possessing a beau- 
tiful garden, where superb roses blossom all the year 
round, while from beneath the shade of ancient trees 
one may look through a gate-way over fields of al- 
falfa to the snow-peaks of the two volcanoes. More 
than two hundred workmen are employed in this 
establishment. They are all natives of Mexico, and, 
for the most part, the superintendents as well as the 
operators are of Indian blood. Every means is taken 
to educate and improve the condition of these people 
and their families, who lead happy, intelligent lives, 
encouraged by the favor of their employers to do 
their best for the success of the mill and the mutual 
well-being of all. It is a little community of interests. 

Of late, a large unoccupied room, by permission of 
the owner, has been converted into a theatre ; and 
here, wholly by the exertions of the operatives them- 
selves, a stage has been erected, where plays are acted 
once a week — the men themselves taking all the parts. 
Among the audience are the families of the em- 
ployers, readily giving encouragement to the exhi- 



PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES. 409 

bition, for whom a large box is reserved. The In- 
dians of the neighborhood, on the opening night of 
the new entertainment, flocked to see what it was 
hke, had free admission, and the house was crowded 
with an amazed and delighted audience. Enthusi- 
asm was great, especially when the national banner 
was waved to the stirring strains of the fine national 
march of Mexico. 

It is to such influences as these that Mexico will 
owe her success. The native race requires good 
masters, good examples, and the opportunity of 
good intellectual training, to enable it, in future, to 
walk alone up the steep path of national progress. 

The great source of wealth in Mexico is her min- 
eral productions, which have been renowned from 
the early period when they allured Cortes and his 
companions to endure hardship and risk defeat on 
their difflcult passage up to Anahuac. The most 
sanguine dreams of the Spanish conquerors have yet 
to be realized in the possible amounts to be yielded 
from these mines in the future, when stable govern- 
ment shall have increased the population of the 
widespread mining districts to an extent capable of 
developing all the riches they contain. 

Thymines of Guanajuato, which have been the 
most worked, and which have already yielded enor- 
mously, as yet give no signs of being exhausted. 
The soil of the state of Guerrero has been pro- 
nounced to be one extensive crust of silver and gold. 
The northern states of the Republic contain inex- 
haustible veins of gold and silver in their mountain 
ranges. Silver and gold are the metals most worked. 



THE STORY OF MEXICO. 4I I 

while other metals and mineral substances are al- 
most neglected, although present in proportion. 
The volcano Popocatepetl is said to be one vast 
pile of sulphur. In every state there are quarries of 
white and colored marbles — those of Puebla espe- 
cially remarkable for their rich veins of variegated 
colors, which, properly worked, would make beauti- 
ful decorative columns and other architectural orna- 
ments. At present, the specimens of this '' Puebla 
onyx" are limited to paper-weights, pen-handles, 
and other small articles, which, without any solid 
value, serve to show the variety and beauty of the 
material. Precious stones are not unknown in Mex- 
ico ; opals, with fickle rainbow hues, now brilliant, 
now vanished, are found in many places, and coun- 
terfeited in many others. Turquoise, garnet, topaz, 
and amethyst are among the native jewels of the 
Mexican mines. 




XLIV. 



FUTURE. 



If it be conceded that the native races of Mexico 
are capable of development, it is evident that what 
is needed for their elevation from their present low 
estate, is good religion, good government, and good 
education. 

The remnant of the Aztecs and other Indian tribes 
owed every thing to the judicious treatment of the 
first Roman Catholic priests. The wise teachings of 
these men, as we have seen, changed, without vio- 
lence, a barbarous superstition into a gentle belief in 
the truths, and especially the miracles, of the Catho- 
lic religion ; which through the epoch of Spanish 
domination retained its good effect. But as time 
went on, the Church became so powerful and so rich, 
that the suppression of the religious orders became 
a necessity; and finally Juarez, although under much 
resistance, was able to institute this radical reform. 
The final extinction of these orders, the suppression 
of monasteries and nunneries, was not achieved until 
1874; since when many of these deserted buildings 
have been appropriated to other uses. Others re- 
main standing, sad monuments of a picturesque 
past ; but many of them, interesting on account of 

412 



FUTURE. 413 

their historic associations, have disappeared, torn to 
the ground, to make way for modern improvements. 

But the suppression of the orders was not accom- 
panied, except in the case of the Jesuits in 1856, by 
the expulsion of their members from the country. 
On the other hand, these were still permitted to re- 
main as individuals ; and to the present time, the 
priests ministering to the churches formerly con- 
nected with convents, are usually members of those 
orders by which such churches were founded. 

In any one of the smaller cities and towns the 
parish priest, almost, without exception, is a worthy 
and faithful cura, of devout and godly reputation, 
leading among his flock a simple life, wholly occu- 
pied in ministering to his charge according to the 
best of his abilities. Since the enactment of the 
laws of the reform there is nothing to tempt men 
to adopt their calling but their love of God and gen- 
uine interest in the welfare of their parish, often 
composed, for the most part, of ignorant Indians. 
These men are entitled to honor and reverence ; 
their ample reward is the unwavering devotion of 
their congregations, and the satisfaction they may 
receive from observing the development of their 
simple minds. 

In the year 1770, the Bishop of Puebla published 
there his form of the Mozarabic liturgy, the most 
ancient religious service of the -Church of Spain, 
which flourished there until the eleventh century, 
when it was supplanted by the Roman liturgy. 
Even at the present time a chapel exists in the 
cathedral at Toledo, in Spain, where this service is 



414 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

habitually used, although in presence of but few if 
any worshippers. 

The revival of Mozarabic rites in Mexico met with 
little attention ; but its introduction alone shows a ten- 
dency towards independence of thought, very mani- 
fest later in the action of Juarez in the sequestration 
of Church property. Since 1868 a movement in favor 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church has increased to 
one of importance. Other Protestant denominations 
maintain missions in various parts of the country, — 
the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist missions. 

There is still a wide field open in Mexico for 
teaching the impressionable native of Anahuac the 
simple tenets of the religion of Christ. Purity, hon- 
esty, charity, the love of his neighbor, duty to him- 
self, the knowledge of God, — these sure foundations 
of life are only needed by him as his iirst foothold 
in upward progress. As for the government, its 
present action, its promises for the future, are for the 
good of the native races. All persons born in the 
Republic are free ; and freedom of education, free- 
dom to exercise the liberal professions, freedom of 
thought, and the freedom of the press are guaran- 
teed. That this government should prove itself 
able to carry out its intentions, and thus encourage 
in the vast area under its control the presence of 
order-loving immigrants from other countries, who, 
instead of creating and promoting disorder, as is 
often the case, shall set the example of industry and 
domestic living, is the result desired by all true 
friends of Mexico. Although among the many 
Germans, English, and Americans who have settled 



FUTURE. 41.5 

in the different cities and states of Mexico, there are 
many who have done so in the intention of earnitig- 
honest hvelihoods, without interfering with their 
neighbors, and even with the higher motive of im- 
proving the condition of those around them, it is not 
yet possible to say that the example of the foreigners 
settling in Mexico has been an advantage to its 
natives. Many of the acts of violence ascribed to 
Mexicans might be traced to men of other blood, 
who have sought that territory because they were 
not tolerated elsewhere. The general testimony of 
such observers as civil engineers, telegraph men, and 
others who in the development of the resources of 
the country have penetrated remote parts of it, is 
that the native Mexican is peaceful and quiet in dis- 
position, leading a domestic life with his faithful 
wife, fond of his children, and diligently toiling to 
support his family. Of course there are exceptions 
to this, especially when the pulque habit has brutal- 
ized its victims ; but it is asserted that the drunken 
quarrels in obscure places, often reported in news- 
papers, resulting in pistol-shot or dagger stroke, 
frequently arise less through the fault of the native 
than of the adventurers from other lands. 

Testimony to the good intentions of the govern- 
ment of Mexico is in the improved condition of edu- 
cation there. The system of public instruction is by 
no means perfect, but it is certainly growing better 
and better. Free schools, sustained by city or state, 
are found in most towns and villages, even the 
smallest. Moreover, private schools are numerous 
in all the large towns and cities, and colleges and 



4l6 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

professional schools are found. All of the Mexican 
states (for such matters are left to the jurisdiction of 
each separately) compel free primary instruction, 
and appropriate annual sums to support it. 

While these institutions promise much for the 
future, Mexico is not without her living writers who, 
in spite of the unfavorable atmosphere of disturbed 
politics, have found time to devote themselves to 
literature. Guillermo Prieto has a well deserved 
fame in his own country, and outside of it wherever 
he is known. He was born in 1810, and has passed 
his life in devotion to the liberal cause, which owes 
much of its success, to his personal bravery, the 
boldness of his writings, and his sagacious manage- 
ment of affairs. He has served in the higher ofifices 
of government, and written upon political economy 
and finance, but it is as a poet that he is honored 
and beloved. Prieto is not alone as a writer of 
prominence, but of others there is not room to 
speak. It would be a mistake to suppose that Mex- 
ico was lacking in the possession of fine minds, cul- 
tivated intellects, and eloquent pens. 

It will, of course, have been perceived by this 
time that the Mexicans from whom so much is ex- 
pected in the future are the descendants of the 
Aztec and other native tribes. These form a large 
part of the population of the country,— the portion 
which their remote origin, and the vicissitudes of 
their stay upon Anahuac, make the most interesting 
to the romantic lover of picturesque history. 

The country is occupied also by those descendants 
of Spanish families who avoided the decree of exile 
issued in the early days of independence. Inter- 



^UTUI?E. 



marriages with Indian blood have crossed fhf. . , 
so that many good famih'es in Mexico Lt.°'' 
ancestors among their Spanish ones ad it w'"" 
probably be rare to fin^ c ■? ' ^t would 

With twi 3..,r ma^e^ec Tht ^I^rTr'^ 
'".an character has had upon the ^^t ve fock i."" 
subject .nteresting to students of national c aract^r' 

/ L"-- icbuic irom the mixture nf fi-.^ ^ 

ctr;tr/st:r-:;r 

scendanto hett f h"°' t™'" °' '''^ 'l- 

^e,theMe...antSardrsrt^:i;:;XT'r 
reputafon among other nations for honestv J^ 

r;:Csstfr" ^'r--'-- ^'■-r- r^: 
to the d^r^ntg^eTT^fhrr ■■""'™'p"''>'^- 
^;t^hts::-^-;t^-™ 
to this race th!„ o^r T Z^" °"" P^°«'' " '•= 'e=s 

the cou^;;?,:r° itt rthe"'"" ''°°^ °' 

of her future history ^"^ regeneration 

unrettLd^'rln''""''"^ ''"' ■■" M-'- -e still 

"^ofstte,tif;rTi:hrthrt^hr-,r-^-^ 

pied with emigrants from .11 nH ^'^''^'" ^^ °ccu- 
develop the <yreTZ f °^^^^^ "^tions, eager to 
jr^ Liic great natural resonrrf=>c t^u 



41 8 THE STORY OF MEXICO. 

yearly investing more and more capital in these ert- 
terprises. To the skill of English engineers is due 
the successful achievement of the Mexican railway, 
the first built of the great lines that now mark up 
the map in all directions. Many a Mexican company 
had faced the chasm between the capital and the 
gulf, but baulked before the leap. No government 
lasted long enough to ensure the success of the enter- 
prise, until, in 1868 republican stability and English 
capital combined to push it forward, and in 1873 
the road was opened to the public. 

Two great lines connecting Mexico with the United 
States — the Mexican Central and the National Rail- 
way — are essentially American enterprises. The 
Yankee pervades Mexico — not, as many of its in- 
habitants fear, with the deep design of absorbing all 
its territory into the already large domain of the 
United States, but with his characteristic instinct 
for doing a good thing for himself. He finds a per- 
fect climate, a productive soil, a land rich in metals 
and minerals, unlimited space for future railroads, 
telegraphs, towns, shops, business. There are in- 
stances, no doubt, where he thinks he has found a 
simple native population, easily imposed upon, whose 
ignorance he may work to his own advantage. But 
there is no doubt that Yankee liberality, intelligence, 
conscience, and capital have already done much, and 
will do far more, to advance the civilization of the 
country, and lift the spixMt of the Aztec, kept low 
down by centuries of life at the very base of the 
social pyramid, so that it may ascend higher and 
higher towards its apex. 



FUTURE. 



419 



The darkest days of the Mexican RepubHc are 
over. Its members have learned sharp lessons from 
adversity; they have suffered every thing that their 
own headstrong conduct, their vain-glorious ambition 
could bring upon them — civil war, anarchy, invasion 
by the army of a neighboring government — their 
natliral friend perverted to an enemy partly by their 
own folly, — the unwarranted intervention of a foreign 
potentate, the -difficulties of debt, want of public 
faith, a low state of public honesty. 

Out of all these troubles they have bravely emerged, 
and now take their stand, heavily weighted still, in- 
deed, with the burdens of past mistakes, among 
them the lingering distrust of other nations, but 
young, full of promise, with all the elements sur- 
rounding them of a possible great future. This 
future must depend for the most part on their own 
exertions. The children of to-day must be reared in 
such enlightened fashion that they may avoid the 
mistakes and crimes of the generation before them ; 
they must learn to long for honorable peace, and 
must resist the pull there is to their blood for change 
and military renown. They must seek glory in the 
permanence of their institutions and the develop- 
ment of their great resources, thus slowly winning 
the confidence of other nations. 

Then they will find these other nations, and es- 
pecially the powerful one next them on their own 
continent, ready to perform the neighborly part of 
protecting their interests, sympathizing in their 
prosperity, generously willing to share with them 
the growing fame of the civilization of America. 




INDEX. 



Aak, 78 

Academy of Fine Arts, 226 

Acamapichtli, 90 

Acapulco, 225 

Acatl, 76 

Acolhuacan, 98 

Aculco, 246 

Aculhuas, 42 

Agave, 34 ■. 

Aguilar, Jerome de, 138 

Agustin I., see Yturbide 

Ahtcehtcete, 22, 56 

Ahuitzotl, 105 

Aldama, 248 

Allende, Ignacio, joins Hidalgo, 
241; denounced, 244; attacked 
by Calleja, 246 ; forced to re- 
treat, 247 ; captured and shot, 
248 

Alta California, igo ; see also 
California 

Alvarado, 137, 160, 163, 173, 194 

Amaquemecan, 38, 42 

Amecameca, 99, 208 

Ampudia, General, 318, 319, 322 

Anahuac, 6, 8, 12, 17, 33 

Anaya, General, 334 

Angostura, 323 

Apan, 36 

Apodaca, Viceroy, 259, 262 

Arista, General, 311, 342 

Atlantis, 21 

Atzacualco, 88 

Atzcapotzalco, 42, 43, 51 

Audiencia, 184 

Austin, Moses, 304 



Axayacatl, loi, 158 

Ayaxzitl, 41 

Ayotzinco, 156 

Ayuntamiento, 184 

Azoteas, 127 

Aztecs, 43 ; emigration of, 83 ; 
wanderings of, 84 ; settlement 
at Chapultepec, 86 ; driven to 
the islands, 87 ; found Tenoch- 
titlan, 88 ; their civilization, 
89 ; extent of the kingdom, 
106 ; religion of, 107 ; hiero- 
glyphics, III ; paintings, 112 ; 
religion, 114; domestic life, 

115 ; laws, 115 ; calendar, 

116 ; cycle, 118 ; agriculture, 
119 ; character, 120 ; priest- 
esses, 121 ; policy of the na- 
tion, 123 

Aztlan, 22 



B 



Bajan, Las Nonas de, 248 

Balain, 78 

Barradas, 277 

Basch, Dr., 375 

" Baths of Montezuma," 57 

Baudelier, quoted, 30, 3S, 170 

Bazaine, Marshal, 356, 360, 367, 

371. 373 
Bocanegro, 277 
Bonaparte, Joseph, 235 
Bonpland, 224 
Boot, Adrian, 218 
Branciforte, Marquis of, 234, 235 
Bravo, General Don Nicholas, 

262, 2&8, 274, 307, 321 



421 



422 



INDEX. 



Buena Vista, 323 
Bustamente, 262, 277, 278, 285, 
287, 2S8 



Cacamatzin, 130, 154, 156 

Calderon, battle of, 247 

Calderon, Conde de, see Calleja 

Calderon, Madame, 290 ; quoted, 
227, 273, 282, 284, 293 

Calderon, Senor, 2qo 

California, 313, 316, 33S 

Calleja, General, 246, 247, 252, 
258 

Calzadas, 80 

Calzonzi, 67, 176, 189 

Campeche, 132 

Catioas, 92, 127 

Cargadores , 4, 405 

Carlotta, Empress of Mexico, 
350 ; her character, 358, 364 ; 
goes to Europe, 367 ; inter- 
view with Napoleon, 368 ; 
her madness, 369 

Carratelas, 292 

Casa de Cortes, 28 

Casa Grande, 13 

Casa-Mata, 268 

Catholic Fathers, 9, 412 

Cazadero, 202 

Cempoallan, 143 

Cerro de Borrego, battle at, 355 

Cerro Gordo, 330 

Ceutla, ruins at, 17 

Chaak Mool, 78 

Chalcas, 66 

Chalchiuhtlatonac, 26, 38 

Chalco, Lake, 12, 333 

Chappar7'al, 5 

Chapultepec, 86, 127, 156, 291, 
338, 362, 399 

Charles v., 10, 177, 214 

Charles II., 220 

Charles III., 226, 233 

Charles IV., 227, 233 

Chavero, quoted, 117 

Chiapas, 18, 71, 265 

Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, 41 

Chichen-Itza, 76 



Chichimecs, 26, 38-44, 64, 87 

Chihuahua, 323 

Chilpantzingo, 252 

Chimalpopoca, 91, 94 

Chinampas, 228 

CholoUan, 28 

Cholula, pyramid of, 14, 100, 
106, 206 

Cholultecas, massacre of, 154 

Churubusco, 333, 334 

Cinco de Mayo, 354 

Ckrigos, 344 

Coahuila, 338 

Coatlicue, 121 

Coatzacoalco River, 106 

Colima, 62 

Colorado River, 24 

Columbus, 131 

Comonfort, General, 356 

Conquistadores, 8, 12, 89 

Contreras, Don Pedro Moya de, 
216 

Copan, 17, 71 

Cordoba, 5 

Cordova, 132 

Cordova, treaty of, 264, 266 

Cortazar, General, 285 

Cortes, Fernando, alluded to, 
2, 3 ; birth of, 135 ; character 
of, 136 ; commissioned by 
Velasquez, 127 ; his squadron, 

138 ; at the Tabasco River, 

139 ; worshipped as Quetzal- 
coatl, 141 ; sends gifts to 
Montezuma, 141 ; visits Cem- 
poallan, 143 ; destroys the 
ships, 144 ; intei-view with 
Montezuma, 147 ; conquers^ 
Tlaxcalla, 152 ; at Cholula, 
154 ; arrives in Mexico, 156 ; 
meeting with Montezuma, 
157 ; seizes Montezuma, 159 ; 
expedition to Vera Cruz, 160 ; 
abandons Mexico, 163 ; re- 
treat from the city, 164 ; 
gathers a new army, 171 ; 
campaign against Mexico, 173; 
at Coyoacan, 175 ; conquers 
Michoacan, 176 ; expedition 
to Honduras, 177 ; voyages to 



INDEX. 



423 



Spain, 178 ; death of, 178 ; 
burial in Mexico, 179 
Cortes, Martin, 180 
Cotton, 92, 406 
Council of Music, 53 
Coxcox, 22 
Coyoacan, 175 
Cozumel, 138 

Cuahtemoc, 167, 170, 174, 175, 
^178 

Cuauhnahuac, 92 
Cuautla, 252 
Cuba, 132 
Cuepopan, 88 
Cuernavaca, 28, 225 
Cuextecas, 106 
Cuicuicatzin, 155 
Cuitlahuac, loi 
Cuitlahuatzin, 161, 166 
Cuitzao, Lake, 62 
Culhuacan, 23 
Culhuas, 87 



D 



Diaz, Bernal, 137 ; quoted, 127, 
148, 181 

Diaz, Porfirio, takes Oaxaca, 371; 
takes Puebla, 376, 384 ; a can- 
didate for the presidency, 390; 
at the head of the revolution- 
ists again, 392 ; his earlier 
life, 394 ; in the war of the 
reform, 395 ; campaign against 
Oaxaca, 395 ; an escape from 
government troops, 396 ; presi- 
dent, 398 ; re-elected, 398 ; 
his home, 399 

Doblado, 346 

Dolores, 240 

Dominicans, 324 

Dominiguez, Dona Josefa, 258 

" Drinking cup of the Eagle," 



E 



Escobedo, General, 374, 375, 

378 
Estrada, Gutierrez, 299, 349 



Farias, Valentine Gomez, 279, 

282, 307, 321, 330 
Ferdinand VII., 234, 259 
Fischer, Father, 371 
Forey, Marshal, 356 
Franciscans, 324 
Fremont, Colonel, 316 
Frijoles, 26 



G 



Galves, Viceroy, 226, 228 

Garces, Fray Julian, 204 

Garibay, Viceroy, 236 

Ghent, Fray Pedro de, 192 

Gonsalez, General Manuel, 398 

Good-Friday in Mexico, 294 

Gorostiza,. 334 

Grant, Ulysses, quoted, 341 

Grenaditas, Alhondiga de, 243, 
248 

Grijalva, Juan de, 132-134 

Grito de Dolores, 242 

Guadalajara, 193, 246 

Guadalupe-Hidalgo, treaty of, 
338. 

Guanajuato, 19, 243, 409 

Guardias Rurales, 298 

Guatemala, 71, 265 

Guerrero, 259 ; joins Yturbide, 
261 ; joins in the Casa-Mata, 
268 ; a candidate for the presi- 
dency, 275 ; president, 277 ; 
his government overthrown, 
277 ; captured and shot, 278 

Guillermo, 346 

Guzman, Nuno de, 184, 185-194 

H 

Herrara, General, 262, 307, 342 
Hicuxaxe, 66 

Hidalgo, Manuel, birth and edu- 
cation, 238 ; life at Dolores, 

240 ; declares independence, 

241 ; Grito de Dolores, 242 ; 
takes Guanahuato, 243 ; takes 
Valladolid, 245 ; defeated at 



424 



INDEX. 



Aculco, 246 ; defeated at Cal- 

deron,.247 ; captured and shot, 

248 
Hidalgo, state of, 41 
Historia Chichimeca, 66 
Holy Brotherhood, tribunal of, 

203 
Houston, General, 305 
Huactlatohani, 41 
Huatusco, ruins at, 16 
Huehue-Tlapallan, 19, 24 
Huehuetoca, 218 
Huematzin, 24 
Huexotzinco, 106 
Huitzilihuitl, 91, 92, 94 
Huitzilopochtli, 29, 87, 88, 99, 

105 
Human sacrifices, 102 
Humboldt, Alexander von, visits 

Mexico, 224-232 



" Iguala, Plan of," 261 

Indian, the name, 184 

Indios, 184 

Inquisition, 196, 216 

Ire-Titatacame, 65 

Istaccihuatl, 6 

Iturrigaray, Don Jose de, 224, 

236 
Itzcoatl, 96, 97, 98 
Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva, 

23, 44, 60, 64 
Ixtlilxochitl, king of the Chichi- 

mecs, 44, 45, 94 
Ixtlilxochitl, of Texcuco, 130, 

154, 155, 171 
Izamal, 81 

J 

Jaramillo, Don Juan de, 183 

Jesuits, 324 

Jimenez, 247, 248 

Joinville, Prince de, 281 

Jorullo, 231 

Juarez, Benito, his descent, 344 ; 
governor of Oaxaca, 345 ; 
president, 346 ; ■ withdraws 
from the capital, 356 ; ad- 



vances to Zacatecas, 374 ; 
enters the capital, 386 ; presi- 
dent, 387 ; character of, 3S9 ; 
re-elected, 390 ; death of, 390 

Juarez, Dona Catalina, 137, iBi, 
182 

Juntas y 235 



K 



Kinich-Katmo, 78 

L 

Lane, General, 340 

Leon, Die'go Velasquez de, 132, 

135. 137 
Leon y Gama, quoted, 117 
Le Plongeon, Dr., quoted, 78 
Lerdo, Don Sebastian de Tejada, 

391. 396 
Lerma, River, 219 
Le Teja, 372 
Liberales, 344 
Lopez, General, 377 
Lorencez, General, 354 
Loreto, Fort, 331 
Louis Philippe, 281 

M 

Maguey, 35 

Malinche, mountain of, 46 

Malintzi, birth and early life, 
145 ; in slavery, 146 ; given to 
Cortes, 146 ; becomes inter- 
preter, 147 ; appearance of, 
149 ; escape of, 164 ; life with 
Cortes, 180 ; marriage of, 183 ; 
death of, 1S3 

Marina, see Malintzi, 

Markets in Mexico, 228 

Marques, General, joins the cla- 
igos, 346 ; joins Maximilian, 
372 ; becomes quartermaster- 
general, 375 ; sent to the capi- 
tal, 375 ; his escape, 384 

Martin de Valencia, Fray, 208, 
211 

Martinez, Enrico, 2i3, 219 



INDEX. 



425 



Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, 
350 ; his character and aims, 
352 ; arrives in Mexico, 357 ; 
his reception, 358 ; life at 
court, 360 ; policy of, 362 ; 
appeals to Napoleon, 367 ; 
prepares to leave Mexico, 369 ; 
goes to Orizaba, 370 ; influence 
of the clerical party, 371 ; re- 
turns to Mexico, 372 ; at 
Queretaro, 374 ; his appear- 
ance described, 376 ; a prison- 
er, 378 ; death of, 3S0 

Maxixcatzin, 171 

Maxtla, 44, 48-51, 92-97 

Mayapan, 71, 72 

Mayas, 18, 70-S2 

Mayorga, Viceroy, 226 

Meconetzin, 36 

Meija, General, 373, 378, 380 

Mendez, 378 

Mendoza, Antonio de, character 
of, 191 ; his administration, 
192-202 

Merida, 80 

Mexcalla, 106 

Mexicans, 51 

Mexico, climate of, 5 ; relief of, 
6 ; early races of, g ; govern- 
ment of, 10 ; natural resources 
of, ir, 402 ; roads in, 80 ; na- 
tives of, 185 ; mines of, 229, 
4C9 ; society in, 290 ; women 
of, 292 ; soldiers, 308 ; vege- 
tation, 402 ; flowers, 403 ; 
market-place, 404 ; schools of, 
415 ; literature of, 416 ; rail- 
ways in, 418 

Mexitli, 84 

Mexitzin, go 

Mezcal, 36 

Michoacan, 19, 62-69, 106, 176, 
194 

Mines of Mexico, 229, 409 

Miramon, General, joins the 
clerigos, 346, 349 ; joins Maxi- 
milian, 372 ; advances to Za- 
catecas, 374 ; raises troops for 
Maximilian, 375 ; taken pris- 
oner, 378 ; shot, 380 



Mitla, 393 

Mixcoatl, 40 

Mixtecas, ig 

Molino del Rey, 334, 360 

Monasteries, suppression of, 412 

Montano, 176 

Monte de la Cruces, 245 

Monteleone, Dukes of, 179 

Monterey, 317 

Monterey (in California), 314 

Montezuma I., 92, 98, 100 

Montezuma II., loi, 124 ; coro- 
nation of, 125 ; court of, 128 ; 
interview with Cortes, 147, 
157 ; a prisoner, 159 ; death 
of, 161 

Montezuma, Coude de, 220 

Montezuma's Cypress, I2g 

Morales, General, 328 

Morelia, ig4, 251 

Morelos, Jose Manuel, birth of, 
250 ; education of, 251 ; joins 
the Independents, 251 ; de- 
fends Cuautla, 252 ; calls first 
Mexican congress, 252 ; ap- 
pointed captain-general, 253 ; 
defeated at Valladolid, 254 ; 
captured, 254 ; shot, 254 ; his 
character, 255 

Morelos, state of, 41 

Mound Builders, 20 

Moyotla, 88 

Mozarabic liturgy, 413 

N 

Nachan, 71 
Nahuas, ig, 20 

Nahuatl, language, ig, 27 ; le- 
gends, 22 ; family, 70 
Napoleon I., 235 
Napoleon III., 349, 360, 366, 

368 
Naranjan, Princess of, 65 
Nata and Nana, legend of, 23 
National Museum of Mexico, 33 
Nevada de Toluca, 29 
New Mexico, 313, 338 
New Spain-, extent of, 190 
Nezahualcoyotl,. 44-61, 96, 98 



426 



INDEX. 



Nezahualpilli, 105, 125, 130 

Noche Triste, La, 163 

Nopal, 87 

Noriega, General, 384 

Northers, i, 3 

Novella, Francisco, 263, 264 

Nueva Leon, 316 

O 

Oaxaca, 275, 392 

Obregon, 229 

O'Donojii, Don Juan, 223, 263- 

266 
Oidores, 185 
Olid, Chnstobal de, 137, 173, 

176, 177 
Olmedo, Father, 1S2 
Orizaba, i 

Ortega, General, 346, 356 
Otomis, tribe of, 19, 152 
Otoncapolco, 164 
Otumba, battle of, 168, 170 



Painala, 145, 1S3 
Palenque, ruins at, 17, 72-76 
Palo Alto, battle at, 311 
Paredes, Don Maria, 284, 285, 

307, 319 
Parian, The, 275 
Paseo, 291 

Patzcuaro, 63, 68, 194, 230 
Payne and Zarate, quoted, 37 
Pedraza, Manuel Gomez, 275, 

276, 27S, 282 
P CO ties, 256 

Philip II., g, 199, 214, 219 
Philip III., 219 
Philip lY., 219 
Philip v., 233 
Pillow, General, 336 

nta, 35 

Popocatapetl, 6 
Popotla, 164 
Pottery of Mexico, 405 
Prieto, Guillermo, 346, 416 
Princess of Cloth, 92 
Puebla, 204, 206, 262, 330, 333, 
354> 356 



Puebla, state of, 41 
Fulque, 23, 35 



Qiiemadero, 216 

Queretaro, 19, 246, 262, 374, 375 

Quetzalcoatl, 29 ; legends of, 

30. 33> 131 ; influence of, 32 ; 

statue of, 34 
Quinames, 18 
Quinatzin, 42 
Quiroga, Vasco de, 197, 238 



R 



Railways in Mexico, 418 

Rebozos, 296, 406 

Recla??iacion de los Pas teles, 281 

Revillagigedo, Don Juan Vicente 
de Guemes Pacheco de Pa- 
dilla, Conde de, 220-222 

Robbers, 297 

Royal University, founded, 203 

Rubio, Manuel Romero, 399 



Sabine River, 305 

Sacramento, 323 

Salanueva, Don Antonio, 345 

Salm-Salm, Prince of, 375 ; Prin- 
cess of, 378 

Salomea, Pass of, 393 

Saltillo, 316 

San Christobal, Lake, 12 

San Diego, 252 

San Juan de Uloa, 137, 236, 
281, 330 

San Juan Teotihuacan, 168 

San Luis, 19 

San Nicholas, Colegio de, 230, 
238, 251 

Sandoval, Gonzalo de, 173 

Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 
267 ; his connection with 
Yturbide, 273 ; at Oaxaca, 
275 ; defeats a Spanish force, 
277 ; becomes president, 278 ; 
in Texas, 279 ; a prisoner. 



INDEX. 



427 



280 ; defeats a French squad- 
ron, 281 ; his home at Manga 
la Clava, 2S2 ; rivalry with 
Pedraza, 283 ; with Meija, 
284 ; president again, 287 ; at 
the head of the army, 308 ; 
returns from Cuba, 320 ; in 
the war with the United 
States, 330-338 ; retires to 
Jamaica, 340 ; made Dictator, 
344 ; conspires against the 
government, 387 ; banished, 
388 ; death of, 388, 398 

Schools of Mexico, 415 

Scott, Winfield, 323, 324, 328, 
330, 337. 339 

Serape, 406 

Shining Serpent, see Quetzal- 
coatl 

Sicuiracha, 65 

Small-pox among the Aztecs, 
167 

Spanish, expelled from Mexico, 

274 
St. Domingo, 135 
Sun, sacrifices to, 102 



Tabasco River, 133, 139 
Tamaulipas, 270 
Tangoxoan II., 67, 176 
Tarascans, 65 ; customs of, 68 
Taylor, General, 312, 316, 337, 

339 

Tecpancaltzin, 28, 36 

Tehuacan, 254 

" Temple of the Cross," 74 

Tenoch, 8g, 90 

Tenochtitlan, 43, 88, 126, 175 

Teocallis, 9 

Teotihuacan, pyramid of, 18 ; 
city of, 28 ; visited by Hum- 
boldt, 229 

Tepanecas, tribe of, 43, 44, 87, 

91 . 

Teqtiila, 36 

Texas, revolts against Mexico, 
305 ; annexed to the United 
States, 306 ; in the treaty of 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 338 



Texcuco, Lake, 12, 219 

Texcuco, kingdom of, 44 ; gold' 
en age of, 53 ; literature of, 
54 ; decline of, 60 ; the king- 
dom divided, 130 

Tezcatlipoca, 23, 30 

Tezcotzinco, 56 

Tezozomoc, king of Azcapot- 
zalco, 44, 94 

" Three Guaranties, The," 261 

Tierra caliente, 402 

Tixiacuri, 66 

Tizoc, reign of, loi 

Tlacopan, kingdom of, 42 

Tlatelolca, 97, 167 

Tlaxcalla, subject to the Chi- 
chimecs, 41 ; the name, 46, 
47 ; Corte's goes to, 144 ; posi- 
tion of, 151 ; resists the Span- 
iards, 152 ; forced to make 
peace, 153 ; head-quarters of 
Cortes, 172 

ToUan, see Tula 

Tollanzinco, 24 

Toltecs, legend of their origin, 
23 ; traditions of, 24 ; appear- 
ance of, 26 ; customs of, 27 ; 
duration of the kingdom, 37 ; 
wars, 40 ; defeated, 41 

Toluca, 28 

Tonacatecuhtli, 27 

Topiltzin-Meconetzin, 37 

Trujillo, 245 

Tula, 17, 24, 41, 71 

Tzintzuntzan, 66, 67, 198 



U 



Ulmecas, tribe of, 18 

United States, result of the war 
with Mexico, 339 ; action of, 
regarding the Mexican Em- 
pire, 365 



V 



Valencia, Fray Martin de, 193 
Valencia, General, 284, 287 
Valenciana, Count of, see Obre- 
gon 



428 



INDEX. 



Valenciana, mines of, 229 

Valladolid, 194, 196, 230, 245, 
246, 253, 262 

"Valley Confederates," 9S 

Velasco, Luis de, second viceroy, 
203 

Velasquez de Leon, Diego, gov- 
ernor of Cuba, 135 ; sends 
Grijalva to Mexico, 136 ; is 
jealous of Cortes, 137 

Venegas, Don Francisco, 237, 
243, 248, 253 

Vera Cruz, i, 4, 41, 142, 321, 
328 

Viceroys, 9 ; number of, 223 

Victoria, Don Felix Fernandez, 
,.273, 274 

Vidaurri, General Santiago, 383, 
384 

Viga Canal, 228, 292 

Votan, So 

W 

"Wanderings of the Aztecs," 

picture of, 112 
Worth, General, 323, 330, 331 

X 

Xicalancas, tribe of, 18 
Xicotencatl, 152 
Xochicalco, pryamid of, 16, 28, 
225 



Xochimilco, 12 
Xochiquetzal, 22 
Xochitl, 36, 41 
Xoconochco, 106 
Xolotl, chief of the Chichimecs, 
40, 42 



Yturbide, Agustin de, 260 ; an- 
nounces " Plan of Iguala," 
261 ; takes Valladolid, 262 ; 
enters the capital, 264 ; made 
president, 265 ; proclaimed 
emperor, 266 ; crowned, 267 ; 
deposed, 268 ; leaves the 
country, 26S ; declared a 
traitor, 268 ; returns and is 
executed, 270 ; his character, 
271 

Yucatan, 18, 70, 132 



Zamna, 80 

Zapotecas, tribe of, 19, 393 

Zaragoza, General, 346, 354 

Zoquipan, 88 

Zovanga, 67 

Zumarraga, Fray Juan de, 207 

Zumpango, Lake, 12 

Zuniga, Dona Juana de, 183 




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determined upon : 

THE STORY OF *ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. George Rawlinson. 
" *CHALDEA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
" *GREECE. Prof. James A. Harrison, 

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PORTUGAL. H. Morse Stephens. 
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" PHCENICIA. 
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who by their actions and endeavors proved themselves the equals of the 
men of their time in valor, shrewdness, and ability. 

This volume seeks to tell for the girls and boys of to-day the stories of 
some of their sisters of the long ago — girls who by eminent position or 
valiant deeds became historic even before they had passed the charming 
season of girlhood. 




"EDITH OF SCOTLAND." 
(Reduced from " Historic Girls.") 



Their stories are fruitful of varying lessons ; for some of these historic girls 

were wilful as well as courageous, and mischievous as well as tender-hearted. 

Contents of HISTORIC GIRLS : Zenobia of Palmyra, the Girl of the Syrian Desert - 
Helena of Britain, The Girl of the Essex Fells ; Pulcheria of Constantinople, The Girl of 
the Golden Horn ; Clotilda of Burgundy, The Girl of the French Vinevards ; Woo of 
Hwang-ho, The Girl of the Yellow River ; Edith of Scotland, the Girl of the Norman 
Abbey ; Jacqueline of Holland, The Girl of the Land of Fogs ; Catarina of Venice, The 
Girl of the Grand Canal ; Theresa of Avila, The Girl of the Spanish Sierras ; Elizabeth 
of Tudor, The Girl of the Hertford Manor; Christina of Sweden, The Girl of the 
Northern Fiords ; Ma-ta-oka of Pow-ha-tan, The Girl of the Virginia Forests. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

CHIVALRIC DAYS AND YOUTHFUL DEEDS. 

By E S Brooks. Profusely illustrated . . . $2 oo 

CHIVALRIC DAYS tells the story of certain notable scenes and occa- 
sions in the world's history in which the boys and girls of the long ago 
had both part and lot. 

" Chivalric Days " is written in the same entertaining style that made the 
author's " Historic Boys" one of the leading holiday books of last year. 
It, however, comprises stories of the girls as well as the boys of the past, 
and each story is brightened with glimpses of the queer customs and cos- 
tumes, the manners and the home-life of those far-off days. 




" 'OH, SIR,' SAID DOLLY, 'LET THE CHILD GO !' 
(Reduced from " Chivalric Days.") 

" Chivalric Days " contains : Cinderella's Ancestor ; The Favored of Baal ; The Gaqe of 
a Princess ; The Tell-Tale Foot ; " The Rede of the Elves " ; The Boys of Blackfriars ; 
The Cloister of the Seven Gates ; The Story of the Field of the Cloth of Gold— I. How 
Rauf Bulney Spoiled His Crimson Cloak ; IT. How the Kings Met in the Golden Valley ; 
III. How Alargery Carew Got Her Glittering Chain ; IV. How the Queens Dined with- 
out Eating ;— " Alonsieur, the Captain of the Caravel "—I. The Gentlemen Volunteers ; 
II. In English Waters ; III. The Battle ;-The Little Lord of the Manor. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London, 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



Uncle Sam's Medal of Honor. An account of some 

noble deeds for which it has been conferred in the United States. By 
Theo. F. Rodei^bough, Bvt. Brigadier-General, U. S. A. "the United 
States Medal of Honor, which was instituted by Congress at the instance 
of Washington, is the only authorized military decoration for valor in this 
country, and this volume has been planned to present some of the most 




SERGEANT TAYLOR RESCUING LIEUTENANT KING. 
(Reduced from " Uncle Sam's Medal of Honor.") 

stirring and dramatic incidents connected with the history of the Medal, 
The narratives are in many cases related by the actors. With seventy 
illustrations. Large i2mo , . . . . . . $2 oo 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London. 



FUBLTCATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SOjVS 



The Big Brother Series. Comprising : 

I.— The Big Brother. A Story, for Boys, of Indian War. By 
George Gary Eggleston. Octavo, illustrated, cloth extra. $;r 25 

II. — Captain Sam ; or, The Boy Scout of 1814. By G. C. Eggle- 
ston. Illustrated. Octavo, cloth $1 25 

" Sam, as tlie leader of a company of boys, does admirable service for General Jackson, 
and after passing through manifold plots, and conquering bristling treacheries, lie is made 
a real captain by commission, and receives the thanks of the commanding general." — 
Boston 'J raveller. 




"THEY PUSHED THE RAFT OUT INTO THE CURRENT AND BEGAN GLIDING 
SILENTLY ALONG 1 HE SHORE." 
(Reduced from " The Big Brother Series.") 

III. — The Signal Boys; or, Captain Sam's Company. A Tale of 
the War of tSi2. By G. C. Eggleston. Illustrated. Octavo, cloth. 

$1 25 

IV.— The Wreck of the Red Bird. A Story of the Sea Islands. By 
' G. C. Eggleston. Illustrated. Octavo . . . . $i 25 
" A wholesome, readable story." — Chicago Thnes. 

V. — Boys of Other Countries. — Stories for American Boys. By 
Bayard Taylor. Illustrated. Octavo . . . . $: 25 

" Nobody knows better than this author does how to tell a good story, and there are 
not many persons who have better stories to tell." — N. V. Evening Post. 

The set, five volumes in a box . . . . $6 00 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 







BACK OF TABLET, WITH ACCOUNT OF THE FLOOD. 
(From " Great Thoughts for Little Thinkers.") 



Great Thoughts for Little Thinkers. By Lucia True 
Ames. i2mo, profusely illustrated . . . -$175 

" The present volume has had a natural genesis. It has grown out of a 
desire to help one dear little child, whose quaint fancies and rude concep- 
tions had lain all unexpressed until enlightened by careful questioning, to 
the amazement and frequent amusement of the writer, who has become 
convinced, after a careful search through current juvenile literature, that 
there is need for something which shall supplement the home and school 
instruction for young children. . . . The attempt has been made to 
present in as simple language and as definite form as possible, the outline 
of those fundamental truths in science, history, religion, and morals, which 
shall be the basis for all later thought." — Frorji Author s Introduction. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and' London. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

The Travels of Marco Polo. Edited for Boys and Girls, 
with Explanatory Notes and Comments, by Thos. W. Knox, 
author of " Boy Travellers in the East," " The Young Nim- 
rod," etc. Quarto, with over two hundred illustrations. 
Uniform with the " Boy Plutarch " and " Heroditus," pp. 
53° • • ' ^2 50 




TURCOMANS PLUNDERING A CARAVAN. 
(From " The Travels of Marco Polo.") 

It was from Marco Polo that Europe first learned of the existence of 
Japan, and from him, too, it derived its first knowledge of the Land of 
Darkness in the Far North, and of the Arctic Ocean beyond. His descrip- 
tion ranges from Siberia to Ceylon, and from the Adriatic Sea to the Pacific 
Ocean. The story of his travels was received with incredulity, and he 
died while Europe was gravely doubting its truth. It has remained for 
later generations to establish the correctness of his narrative and accord 
him the praise he so richly deserves. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London. 



LBIVIy'lS 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




006 009 296 5 



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